


Guardian

by Lerya



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Awesome Sheriff Stilinski, BAMF Nemeton, BAMF Stiles, Bad Alpha Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Bad Friend Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Bobby Finstock knows, Dark Alan Deaton, F/F, F/M, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Multi, Post-Season/Series 03A AU, Sheriff Stilinski Knows, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is Noah, Spark Claudia Stilinski, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski Leaves Beacon Hills, There is a counsel for the Supernatural
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:19:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 43,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27953759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lerya/pseuds/Lerya
Summary: After Stiles finally realises how little he means to Scott, and how little his opinions and even his research mean to the 'true Alpha', he's had enough. With most of the original Hale pack getting away from the Hellhole that is Beacon Hills, he prepares to do the same. The extra addition wasn't planned, but most welcomed, as was an invite by the counsel.He could do this, going around the world, helping other Supernaturals, getting to know the world, and learning about himself and the community.
Relationships: Aiden/Lydia Martin, Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey, Bobby Finstock & Stiles Stilinski, Ethan/Danny Mahealani/Jackson Whittemore, Sheriff Stilinski & Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski & The Hale Pack, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes
Comments: 199
Kudos: 538





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a brainchild that jumped on me after one too many Teenwolf fanfictions (I do apologise as I am not totally up to date with the series, but this is an AU after 3A). Feel free to let me know which Supernatural beings Stiles would encounter and where (I already have quite a lot of this fic written, but I'd love some input from you guys), so I can research it, and them ^^

Stiles had to curse as he made his way towards the loft, ever since Derek, Cora and Peter had left after the whole thing with the alpha pack and the Darach, not that he could blame them, Scott had taken over the Loft so that his mother didn’t get too much exposure to the supernatural.

Which was kind of a moot point, seeing as they all still went to Melissa for any kind of medical help, because going to the hospital brought up too many questions.

Melissa, aside, Scott had asked Stiles to come to the loft with any information he could find about the newest creature of the week, which in itself wasn’t something Stiles hated doing. It was that he got no recognition whatsoever for his research. Not even a thank you, from none of them.

Ever since Scott became a true Alpha, and made his own pack, Stiles was pushed aside more and more often. It also didn’t help that everyone from before had all left Beacon Hills.

Peter, Derek, and Cora went to South-America, to the pack where Cora stayed with after the fire, to experience a real pack again, instead of the sham that was Scott’s.

Erica and Boyd had followed after them a few weeks later, while in the ‘care’ of the alpha pack, they had bonded with Cora, and had talked everything over with Derek as soon as they were freed. They had tried to stay, for their families, but had cited to many trauma to their families and were allowed to relocate close to where Derek, Cora and Peter were staying, with one of Boyd’s aunts, who happened to be in the known about the supernatural.

Isaac, Allison and Chris had left around that time as well, going to France to visit Chris’ mother, who after everything that had happened with Kate and Gerald was Argent Matriarch again, training Allison to take her place with the values that were once the main line’s core principles, until Gerard twisted those values and raised Kate with them.

Last Stiles had heard, Isaac and Allison had started dating and were beyond happy to be away from the horror story that is Beacon Hills.

With Jackson moving the London before the Alpha Pack descended on Beacon Hills and Lydia, as well as Danny, following him after she graduated early, again to be away from Beacon Hills. It helped that Danny had known all along and had just followed his best friends after they left.

All of it came down to Stiles and Scott being the only ones from the original pack, and with Scott becoming a true alpha, and becoming more arrogant the more time went on, Stiles honestly didn’t know how long he could stay in Beacon Hills as well.

Shaking his head, Stiles entered the building the loft was in, stepping inside of the elevator and entering the loft as soon as the doors opened. What he found was what seemed like a pack night with Scott’s betas.

He scowled at the looks he received; Scott never did tell his betas just what Stiles did for his little pack of misfits. He stopped expecting his former best friend to start doing so.

“Stiles!”

Speak of the devil, there was Mr. True Alpha, a smile on his face, “thanks again for this! I couldn’t do it without you!”

Stiles scoffed, “then how about you start treating me like your emissary, instead of never inviting me to your pack nights, nor telling you little pack of where the information they need to survive this new monster of the week comes from.”

Scott tilts his head, “but Deaton is my emissary.”

This had Stiles boiling, the local druid, who spoke in riddles more often then that he spoke in logical languages. The same one who hadn’t done a single thing to help the old Hale pack, the new Hale pack, nor Scott’s pack.

Before he could fly off the handle, Stiles took a deep breath and looked at Scott, “then you ask Deaton to do your research for you instead of always asking me to do it, especially when you never credit me for it. Nor does your pack appreciate the things I do for you. I thought it would be us against the world for a long time to come, but seems I was wrong.”

As he turned around, he heard Scott clear his throat, “you know Deaton had warned me for this, Stiles, you’re jealous of what happened to me, even if it is your fault this is now happening! You should do our research to pay me back for all this hurt you caused me!”

Stiles turned around, “all the hurt I caused you!? If I remember correctly you wanted to come with me into the woods that night, and you were the idiot than ran away from my dad when he found me, instead of towards him! I cannot believe you would blame this all on me, as becoming a werewolf has only benefited you!”

Breathing heavily, Stiles was aware of the eyes on him, all of them lid up with a partial shift.

Throwing his hands up in the air, he turned again, making his way towards the door, “figure out your own shit, Scott, or ask Deaton for help, good luck with that!”

Opening the door, he slammed it close behind him, enjoying the slam it gave, hoping the werewolves inside could hear it much louder than he could, and it gave them a headache.

He knew he was being petty about this, but he had, had it with Scott and his pack. None of them thanked Stiles for whatever he did, not even Scott, and he just found out why. None of them spoke to him in school, if anything they pushed him aside or downright bullied him, which Scott never said anything about. Scott had changed, and not in a good way.

Add to that, that Scott in his ‘infinite’ wisdom had told his mother the moment he had his shift under control but refused to help Stiles tell his dad. Before when the Hales were still in Beacon Hills, he hadn’t wanted to tell his dad, wanted to protect him.

But with Scott’s miserable pack, as well as his no-kill policy, he was scared something would come after his dad after it got away from the puppies. And he wanted the man to be able to protect himself, but without a werewolf close by to show him that this was all real, he would just shove it aside, just like that one time he tried to come out to his dad that night at Jungle.

Stepping back into his jeep, he leaned his head against the headrest, rubbing a hand over his eyes, finally realising he was alone in this hellhole. He couldn’t explain anything like this to his dad, and he had just severed all ties he had with Scott.

Shaking his head, he started his jeep and pulled out from the loft parking lot, driving around aimlessly for a bit. So, when he cut the ignition at the entrance to the preserve, he could feel something in the air calling out to him.

Opening the door, he stepped out of his car, taking his first few steps towards the entrance, when he first heard it.

_“Little spark, come…”_

Stiles swallowed thickly, knowing that he shouldn’t be following disembodies voices anywhere, but the voice sounded so familiar, like an old memory suddenly playing through his head again.

Taking a few steps forwards, he stopped again, waiting for that voice to speak again.

_“You remember, little spark…”_

It reminded him about the walks he would have with his mom, before she became ill, through the preserve. Enjoying nature and all the animals scurrying around.

_“Little spark…”_

He remembered her pointing towards books she had put away one afternoon, smiling sadly at him, telling him he would know when he needed them, to go and get them only after…

Part of the memory, he didn’t remember, she told him about when he would need to find those books, but he didn’t know when he should. He frowned, worried about that, for a moment fearing that he would contract the same disease she had, it had started with her losing parts of her memory too.

Shaking his head, he kept on walking through the forest, following the voice when it spoke, pushing the memories of his mom aside, he would come back to them, for now he wanted to know what the voice wanted.

_“Little spark, remember…”_

When he finally stopped, he was in a clearing, which seemed to be in the middle of the forest, a stump sitting in the middle of the clearing, the once magnificent tree reduced to a stump for years now.

“The Nemeton.”

_“Indeed, little spark, do you remember?”_

Frowning, Stiles approaches, his hand coming up to the stump, “remember?”

_“Remember me, little spark.”_

Falling to his knees, his hand still on the stump, Stiles blinked his eyes a few times as memories assaulted him.

_His mother and he walk through the preserve, to the middle of the forest, to the Nemeton, taking care of it. His mother mourning when the stump was cut down one morning, her hand touching it, as she put a hand to her own heart._

_The books she had hidden, the sad smiled she had sported, “when it needs you, it’ll call to you, as it once did to me, Mieczyslaw, my little spark, I must let you forget now, to protect you from those who cut her down.”_

_She had pressed a kiss to his brow and part of the conversation was something he couldn’t remember, “know that I will always love you, my little spark.”_

_Soon after, his mom began showing signs of the fronto-temoral dementia, her health declining at an alarmingly rate._

He gasped as other memories surfaced _, him watching his mother mix something in a cup and giving it to him when he was ill. “This will make it all better, sweetheart, just drink, one day I’ll teach you how to make it.”_

_He would drink it and instantly feel better, smiling as his mother smiled back, closing a big book lying open behind her, smiling mysteriously every time he asked her to be able to investigate it._

Tears gathered in his eyes, as he remembered his mom, things she made him forget, the magic she did every day – where he just never knew what it was.

He gasped, looking at the Nemeton, “you made me remember, you need me…”

_“That I do, Little spark, I am sorry for the pain this causes you.”_

Stiles shook his head, wiping the tears out of his eyes, “I… it never hurts to remember her, I miss her and missing her hurts, but this needed to happen, I know this needs to happen. I was just overwhelmed.”

_“I know, it hurts missing her, my previous guardian, taken from this world because of the backlash caused by my cutting.”_

Stiles wiped a few more tears away, “so she wasn’t ill?”

The Nemeton seemed to doubt for a second, _“she was, but not because of some decease, the magic she did to protect me was turned against her by the same person who cut me down. Trying to make sure she wouldn’t be able to heal me. But she did, and in doing so she bound me to you, making you forget so I would have time to strengthen again.”_

“And the person who did this? Will he know?”

If a tree could scoff, it did just that, _“most likely, he wishes to know and control everything here, already has the new alpha acting as his little dog.”_

Stiles scowled, “Deaton.”

_“Indeed, the druid, he feared the power your mother possessed through her connection to me. On their own sparks are something to be feared, but bound to a Nemeton, they become something unstoppable, a guardian both to me and the territory I protect.”_

“So, Beacon Hills?”

_“Before yes, I was planted eons ago to protect this land, when the Hales came to live here, to be bounded to their emissary as generations passed. But when Talia Hale choose a druid as an emissary, I bounded to a young woman who had followed love to Beacon Hills, I bounded to a young Spark, instead of the druid, and he feared that.”_

Stiles scoffed, “Deaton fears a lot of things.”

_“But he feared this more, as Talia started listening to Claudia more than she did to him, making him an unnecessary asset.”_

The Nemeton stopped for a moment, _“so, he made sure Claudia fell ill at one point, as well as damage me so I couldn’t help protect the territory anymore. With that he was back in the good graces of the Hale pack.”_

“Until they died.”

_“Until he manipulated elements to make place for a new Alpha, one he could steer as he wanted.”_

Stiles gasped, “he was the one who called Laura.”

_“He did.”_

“He made sure Peter was feral, and bit Scott.”

_“For a druid, with access to many strands of wolfsbane, it would be easy to keep a comatose werewolf from healing, from recognizing pack, even if Laura and Derek left him here.”_

“So, Derek’s alpha spark?”

_“Should have gone to the earth, until such a time a new Hale alpha was ready to assent. The druid manipulated it to spring to the young wolf Peter Hale bit.”_

“I found it odd I never found a mention of true alphas.”

_“Because there is no such thing, an alpha spark is gifted to a line, or was gifted eons ago, to get one, one had to be chosen by the former alpha, or kill the one who held it before.”_

“So, Scott should never have been alpha?”

_“Of course not, he does such a bad job at it, does he not.”_

Stiles nodded; Scott wasn’t what he figured to be prime alpha material.

“No, now what?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will be every Tuesday :D

_“Now I need your help.”_

Stiles hummed, “how so, that you’re communicating means you’re healed, right?”

He got a feeling, like a hand being moved in a so-so motion, making him laugh.

_“I am healed, but I need a new guardian, or more like completing the bond with the guardian my previous one choose for me.”_

Stiles gave a squeak, remembering his mother once telling me he would be the guardian of the Nemeton one day, far in the future.

“You need me to be your guardian?”

_“I do, little spark, your mother wasn’t wrong to choose you. You already have a powerful spark you just miss the practice in using it. This is where I can help you – a number of my previous guardians have been sparks, or magic users in general.”_

Stiles gaped, “so you could teach me?”

_“Indeed, I could, little spark. In fact, it would be my pleasure.”_

Stiles grinned, “then tell me what I need to do!”

A sudden gust of wind came through the clearing, _“place both your hands on my stump and feel your spark in your hands, going into it from one hand, through me and my own spark and magic and back to you through your other hand.”_

Stiles nodded, and adjusted his stance, placing both of his hands on the stump, feeling for the feeling he had felt that one night at Jungle. It seemed to jump up in pleasure at being used once more, hearing his thoughts and what he wanted to do, and doing so with a prickly feeling.

He could feel his spark travelling through his arm to his hand and merging with the magic inside the Nemeton, her own spark a whole lot older than his, in fact it felt ancient. Mingling it with the spark inside the Nemeton felt like tasting fire, feeling wind in his face, being dunked in water, and buried alive. Yet it also felt like those hugs his mom used to give him, Lydia leaning on him after a long night of research when she was still around, his pack – Derek’s pack – cuddling close to him and scenting him, his dad patting him on the back that soft smile on his face.

Feeling it going back up his arm was like an extension of him, as if it were both his, as well as someone else’s. As if this was a merging of two people, bound in the closest way, as in the ultimate togetherness.

_“In a way it is, my bound to every guardian is different. But yours is a first time for me too, we both don’t feel safe here anymore, so I am getting uprooted to be able to come with you.”_

Stiles gaped as the tree disappeared little, by little, until only a sapling was left over.

_“I wish to come with you, little spark, when you leave Beacon Hills, please allow me to do so.”_

Stiles just nodded dumbly.

A chuckle was heard through his head, _“then please wear me around your neck or arm, as a very fancy accessory.”_

Stiles giggled; a bit overwhelmed with the ancient three he now shared his thoughts with. But he took the sapling, her roots dangling freely. Winding it around his wrist, the Nemeton adapted and became something like a vine, winding itself around his wrist and resting there, becoming something close to an odd wood coloured bracelet.

Looking closely, he saw tine roots come out of the bracelet and sink in his skin.

_“This way I can stay connected to you now that I won’t have the ground to stay connected to my guardian. This is very new for me too; I have always been a tree standing here in what is now called Beacon Hills. I am looking forward to seeing this world with you.”_

Stiles nodded, “let’s explore together then. I know I made up my mind to leave Beacon Hills, after I talk to my dad and arrange things like my early graduation and entering online classes at a college.”

_“You still wish to proceed with your mundane education?”_

Stiles nodded, “even if the plan I have will bring me quite a bit of money, it’s always handy to have a plan b, and sadly in this world having a college degree will increase your chances at getting a better job.”

A hum sounded from inside his head, _“may I ask what your initial plan is? From what I understand some currency is needed to travel, no?”_

Stiles nodded, “yeah, but I already have my own income. Back when everyone was still in Beacon Hills, I had Danny and Lydia help me in opening a website which dubbed as a supernatural forum, as well as a way for emissaries from around the globe to exchange information.

To keep regular people from entering, as well as to keep hunters out, I put up a couple of safety questions, so people first have to answer those before they can enter it.”

_“This is rather interesting.”_

Stiles saw a flash of the memory of him, Lydia and Danny passing by, “are you looking into my memories?”

The Nemeton hummed in his mind, _“I am, we are connected closer than any of my previous guardians, so it was unintentional for me to do this. This memory came to me when you talked about your friends and the website.”_

“I don’t really mind, just not used to sharing my mind with an ancient sentient tree, that’s all.”

The Nemeton chuckled, _“well I am not used to sharing my mind with a teenager, but I will do so with pleasure, especially from what I have seen and experiences with you, you and I well be a great match.”_

Stiles grinned, “I’m glad to hear you say that I’m just happy I could help and get the help I need to work with my spark at the same time.”

He could heel the Nemeton smiling, _“I am glad you think that way, now tell me more of this forum you have.”_

“Right, so we set it up with security questions, one of them is ‘what colour are a werewolf’s eyes’, with the answer obviously being red, blue, and yellow.

The next one is ‘give the name of one representative of the counsel’, that one took us some time. Peter had to help with that, but when we brought the idea to the counsel, they saw the merit of it and were happy to give the names of those on it. Seeing as more than one species had a representative on it, I thought it fitting to work like that.

Anyway, if they answer those questions, they get access to the main forum where questions can be posted about anything and everything. As well as ‘for sale’, ‘for hire’ and other such notices.

Anyway, money wise, information always has a price, and seeing as I love research, I’ve built up a reputation of giving reliable and true information, so people pay me a pretty penny for it. I set up a bank account in my name for all the earnings I make from it.

Before I had to stay in Beacon Hills, so I couldn’t actually go and help others, multiple people have asked me for personal help, but I couldn’t just leave, now, or soon, I will be able to, and get paid for doing what I love doing – research, helping others, and making sure the supernatural world remains hidden, but helping to preserve it. While also learning more about myself from you, and about other people either in the known or a part of the supernatural world.”

The Nemeton chuckled, _“you are a true gem, you know, Mieczyslaw, to be able to think of such a thing, and to make it accessible. I presume the counsel give out the address to anyone seeking help?”_

Stiles nodded, “that they do. We also get some hunters now and again, but I make sure to track the IP-address and get the personal data to Allison, Chris or Mrs. Argent, so they can verify if these are code-abiding hunters, or those out to kill anything that isn’t human.”

_“That is quite a network you’ve been building, little spark.”_

Stiles blushed, “I guess, some others recognized me from the few times we met and parted on good terms. I know Alpha Ito is active on the forum, or at least her emissary is. The same thing is true for Deucalion, Kali, Ennis, Ethan, and Aiden. All the members of the former Hale pack have a log in, so they can get to the forum without answering the questions. I give away log ins after someone asks one and answers a questionnaire, I mail them.”

_“It keeps getting more interesting, little spark. The only thing that confuses me is the Alpha pack, I thought they left here as enemies?”_

Stiles shook his head, “they were a counsel instated pack with the assignment of seeking out new packs and assess them, and to adjust where necessary. Or in the worst case, kill the Alpha so the next in line can become Alpha, should they find an abusive pack.

However just before they entered Beacon Hills, they were surprised by the Darach, who in her black magic delirium seemed to recognize her former alpha in Kali and put them all under the illusion that the Hale pack was an abusive pack, in an effort to keep us all busy while she searched for you.

When she found Erica and Boyd after they had been tortured, they thought these notions to be true and kept them with them to heal, while they tried to find a way to confront Derek with this. However, when the Darach couldn’t find you and lashed out, hurting Cora, they were proven wrong when Derek willingly gave up his Alpha spark to save his sister.

After the Darach was dealt with, we talked it out and went our separate ways on friendly terms. To be honest, I wonder if they’ll be send to Beacon Hills soon, they have been hinting at coming here again, or Deuce has been doing so, Kali and Ennis are on their honeymoon, and Aiden and Ethan are in London with Lydia, Danny and Jackson.”

The Nemeton hummed, _“I see, I am glad, I remember Deucalion, Kali and Ennis from the times they visited Talia, when they were all still Alpha of their own packs.”_

Stiles smiled sadly, “yeah, a couple of weeks after the Hale fire, hunters systematically found and murdered all three of their packs, seeing as they were rather small ones, wounding each of them, but as an Alpha, especially strengthened by the wolf spark of their deceased betas, they survived and went after the group of hunters. They banded together after that and were hired by the counsel after word travelled of what happened.”

_“I see, it speaks of the strength of their character that they didn’t let the deaths of their pack drive them to insanity.”_

Stiles nodded, “I think it’s because they found pack in each other, no matter how unconventional it is.”

_“That might be the case, still it is rather remarkable.”_

Stiles nodded, opening his car door as he stood next to his jeep, putting it in drive after turning her on, driving home for a much needed, but dreaded conversation with his dad. As well to find the books he remembered his mom hiding.


	3. Chapter 3

Getting home, Stiles saw the cruiser parked in the driveway and wanted to curse. Of course, his dad would be home right now, making it so that the conversation he was dreading on having, would be held right now instead of in a few days.

Sighing, he drove his jeep to stand besides the police cruiser, parking it and getting out and into the house.

“Dad, I’m home.”

It took a while before his dad answered, “in the kitchen, Stiles.”

Taking a deep breath, Stiles made his way into the kitchen, a frown on his face as he saw his dad sitting with his back towards him.

“Take a seat, son, I think we need to talk.”

Frowning even more now, Stiles approached the kitchen table, only to stare at the books he saw lying there.

“Mom’s books.”

Noah nodded, “Claudia’s books. I suddenly remembered where she had stored them and took them out for you. I guess… I guess what she spoke about is happening now?”

Stiles nodded carefully, before showing his dad the Nemeton wrapped around his wrist.

“I see, it… it never did that with Claudia.”

_“The bounding I had with your wife, Sheriff, is something totally different than the one I have with your son. Claudia was a force to be reconned with here in Beacon Hills. Stiles, Stiles will be a force to be reconned with across the globe, I could not stay in the preserve if I wish to accompany him on that journey.”_

Noah nodded; his head heavy as he rested it on his hands, “when your mom came and moved in with me, after we met at random in LA, I thought she was nuts, and she’d be out of Beacon Hills within the week.

But she stayed, and she loved it here. She loved it here so much that the precious Beacon Nemeton bonded with her, and her spark, and she never wanted to leave. She told me all about the supernatural soon after, about who the Hales were and what their role was in protecting Beacon Hills. William Hale was the sheriff before me, and they were large shoes to fill after his death.”

Taking a deep breath, Noah continued, “when she started to get ill, she did something to my memories of those conversation, to the knowledge I had about the supernatural. She locked it all away, to protect me, she said. The last thing she did tell me before doing so, was I would remember when it was your turn to step up as guardian, that you would need her books, that I was to give them to you.”

Stiles looked at his dad with tears in his eyes, “so you know?”

“That Scott’s a werewolf, and doing a poor job at it, yes, I do now. You must know Stiles, that I got quite close to William and Talia Hale, before your mom went ill, and before the fire, so I know how a werewolf is supposed to act.”

Stiles snorted, “then you’ll be even more surprised to know that Scott’s the Alpha of the territory now.”

Noah blinked a couple of times, “tell me you’re kidding?”

Stiles shook his head, “I wish I was”, before proceeding to tell his dad everything that had happened over the last few years. Starting with Scott being bitten by a deranged and feral Peter, all the way to what the Nemeton had told him recently about Scott, Deaton, and his mom.

Noah cursed, “I never did like Deaton, it was one of the main reasons we never got a pet, something rubbed me the wrong way about that man. With Claudia just not liking him, even less after she bonded with the Nemeton.”

_“This is most likely because the Druid is only a step away from becoming a Darach, it was the reason I refused to bond with him in the first place. He only ever cared for his own interpretation of balance, which was proven when he had my last guardian slowly killed because of the backlash of her protective magic around me – which he broke violently as he cut me down, as well as the deaths of the pack he was supposed to be protecting as their emissary.”_

Stiles shuddered, still thinking back about his last experience with a Darach.

“Scott trust him, until the end of the line, as far as I know, even naming him his emissary when I asked to be named as such.”

Noah signed, “this can only go so very wrong.”

Stiles nodded his head, “it’s already going wrong with Scott’s no killing rule, a lot of creatures that should be put down get a second chance and leave Beacon Hills, only to turn up in Beacon county and start what they had stopped doing here. But he never sees it that way, his hands and consciousness are clear, and that’s all that matters.”

Noah shook his head, “I am no expert on the matters of the supernatural, but there is no way that’s the right way to protect a territory.”

Stiles shrugged, “you try and tell him that, when Deaton sings him praises on his way of handling it, and he eats it up like a puppy getting some attention.”

_“The druid wants an alpha who will eat out of his hand, believing that I will keep away the worst of the creatures passing through. So, that should the moment come that someone comes here to end the druid’s life, he’ll have a loyal pet protecting him.”_

Noah and Stiles snorted, “a pet who won’t get his hands dirty isn’t that much help, now is it.”

_“It will when he tells one of the betas to do it in the pet alpha’s name, but with us leaving he won’t have that barrier anymore. So, Sheriff, be prepared for an increase in animal attacks.”_

Noah signed, “I’ll have to see who of my deputies I can inform of everything supernatural, so that at least someone can act should a mundane see something they shouldn’t be seeing.”

Turning to his son, he added, “you’re leaving?”

Stiles nodded, slightly scared, “I only have you here, dad, and as much as I love you, Beacon Hills has lost its charm a long time ago. Especially with everyone leaving, I want to be able to start college, online at least, and just enjoy travelling.”

Noah swallowed, “Claudia used to tell me I should let you go when the time was there, I never understood what she meant, but I think she meant this moment. I… Do you still have a college fund? Because I know you took from it at times to make sure we had enough to pay bills and do groceries.”

Stiles nodded, explaining about the forum he had set up, as well as the money he made from it. Showing his father, the bank statements on his phone.

Noah whistled, “that pays better then a part-time job, son.”

Stiles nodded, “the reason I know I’ll make enough to keep a travelling lifestyle is because I already got offers to pay me for coming over, in very generous numbers, including board and food at the pack house, or what qualifies as one in other groups.”

Noah nodded, “you’ve been giving this a lot of thought?”

Stiles hummed, “I have, since the Hales left, and I got offers to travel to the participants of the forum. That reminds me, I need to give you a log in for the forum, seeing as soon we’re leaving, you’re going to need a guiding hand in what is running around Beacon Hills.”

Noah hummed, “that might come in handy. I guess I need to call the school then, so you can graduate early?”

Stiles grinned, “if you could be so kind.”

“I’ll make the call first thing tomorrow. However, I think we still need to talk about anything else.”

Stiles who had been in the process of gathering the books, looked at his dad, a startled look on his face as he put the books down again and took a seat when Noah beckoned him to do so.

“What really happened that night at Jungle, and I don’t mean the kamina attack. What happened after.”

Stiles looked away, swallowing thickly, “that was me trying to come out to you.”

Noah sighed loudly, “I should have taken that serious, shouldn’t have I?”

Stiles looked at his dad, eyes red rimed, “yeah, yeah, you should have. Or at least not reacted with such a comeback. I prefer comfy over constricted, or at least I did, I know I’ll be going shopping before I leave, if just to make a good impression on people I’ll be helping soon.”

Noah sighed, “for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for saying that son, I have no problem with you being gay, I just want you to be happy.”

Stiles nodded a bit shocked at the easy acceptance, but also disappointed that it took so long for his father to acknowledge this.

“I… thanks, dad, I can’t say I forgive you because you really hurt me with that. But thank you, for the acceptance.”

Noah nodded, knowing that he had to give Stiles time now, Claudia had been the same, and he had hurt his only child’s feelings with reacting the way he had.

Before Stiles disappeared up his room, he said, “I’ll get you that log in ready for tomorrow.”

Noah hummed, “whenever is possible Stiles, I’ll manage for a few days without. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, dad.”

_“For what it’s worth, the Sheriff was sincere in his apology.”_

Looking at the vine on his wrist in shock, Stiles asked, “you can feel that?”

_“It’s more sensing, but yes, it is possible to sense someone’s intentions and underlaying emotions, just like someone with better senses is able to do so.”_

Stiles hummed, “can you teach me?”

_“I will, after you get a good nights sleep, you are not feeling it yet, but this bonding has taken quite a lot out of you, you need your sleep right now, and using your spark now might be too much.”_

Stiles nodded as he yawned, “you might have a point there.”

Taking out his phone before he got ready for bed, he opened up his personal announcement board on the forum and posted.

**I’m still arranging things, but I will be able to visit those who have requested it.  
Keep you all updated!**

  * **Red**



Closing the forum’s website, he smiled and turned his phone to silent, putting on his pyjama’s and brushing his teeth before getting into bed.

“Will you be fine on my wrist during the night?”

_“Should I be uncomfortable, I will let go and curl up somewhere, don’t worry, go to sleep.”_

“Yeah, yeah, goodnight, Nemeton.”

_“Goodnight, Little spark.”_


	4. Chapter 4

When Stiles woke up the next morning, it was to a very freeing feeling, he knew he didn’t have to go to school, as his dad should be arranging his early graduation. Not only that but he’d finally leave Beacon Hills and start his own life, instead of being stuck in this hellhole, with a former best friend who didn’t give an inkling about what happened to him.

Laying in his bed, he took his phone, seeing the Nemeton still wrapped around his wrist, going by the silence he could hear, he assumed she was still asleep. After everything that happened yesterday, he was very happy to have found the Nemeton, and for her to give him his memories, precious memories with his mother back.

Just to think that this ancient tree wanted to be not only bound to him, but also wanted to teach him how to manage his spark, how to do magic, and no doubt give a lot of information that was lost over the years, and as such wouldn’t be found in any bestiary or book.

Turning his phone back on sound, he was shocked to find a lot messages waiting for him.

The Facebook messenger group they had with the original Hale Pack, Scott not included, had quite a lot of notifications.

**Scream Queen:** You’re leaving Beacon Hills!?

**Catwoman:** Finally!

**B.Boyd:** What does Scott say about that?

 **Scarf puppy:** Who cared what the puppy finds, he hasn’t been there for Stiles since we all left.

 **Venom:** good for you, Stilinski!

 **Sour wolf:** what did your dad say?

 **Twin 1:** Drop by London, if you can!

 **Twin 2:** We have a guest room with your name on it!

 **Danny:** And we miss you!

 **Creeper wolf:** Happy for you, you are of course welcome to swing by here too!

 **She-wolf:** You should, we miss you too!

 **Stiles:** Hi, was asleep!   
Dad was fine with it, seems like he already knew as my mom was a spark too. (things happened will tell you in person some time)  
Scott doesn’t know, am not planning on telling him.

 **Artimes:** What did he do?  
Also, you’re more than welcome in Paris! Grand-mère wants to meet you !

 **Stiles:** Tell me Deaton is his emissary, but I need to do his research as compensation for him getting turned.

 **Creeper wolf:** …

 **Sour Wolf:** …

 **Christopher:** …  
He didn’t…

 **Stiles:** sure did, was the last drop! Dad is arranging everything with school, so I hope to be out of here by the end of the week!

 **She-wolf:** [gif of party]

 **Stiles:** and I’d be glad to come by London, Paris and wherever in Brazil the Hales are staying!

Putting down his phone for a moment, he was happy that his actual friends were happy with the choices he made. The fact that he would soon see them, and that they were looking forward to it as much as he was, filled him with warmth.

Getting up, he got dressed, feeling the Nemeton wake from the way their shared link began buzzing.

_“Good morning, Little spark.”_

“Good morning, Nemeton. How did you sleep?”

_“Very well actually, although I think I slept more like you did, instead of sleeping like I did as a tree.”_

Stiles hummed, “but you liked it?”

A positive feeling came over their bond, _“that I did.”_

Humming as he made his way to the kitchen, he knew his dad was at work now, having checked his phone as he messaged the Pack group chat, he knew it was closing in on 11 AM.

On the kitchen table, his dad had left a note:

**Called the school, they gave the ok. You just must call them back to arrange all the paperwork. See you later**

**Dad**

Smiling, Stiles made plans to call the school after he had something to eat, checking his mails as he drank his coffee and waited for the toast to pop out of the toaster.

Most of them were notifications of direct messages on the forum, which he knew he should read, but it could wait until after everything with school was handled.

One mail, however, did stand out. The mail address the same one he had used to seek contact with the counsel to ask for the names needed for their second security question on the forum. Tapping it open, he read it, only for his eyebrows to lift into his hairline, he had not been expecting this.

**Dear Mr. Stilinski  
Dear Mieczyslaw**

**I have gathered that within a few days you will be leaving Beacon Hills and help other in the known the same as you have been helping them online for several years now.**

**We have only ever heard, and read, good things about you, as well as the people you still call pack. It is because of this we would like to offer you the possibility to work directly under the counsel.**

**As Deucalion had no doubt explained, working under the counsel grands you certain privileges within our community, as well as a token which shows others that you handle with our knowledge and approval.**

**We would like to discuss the details in person, as well as give you everything you’d need as a counsel sponsored and approved support of Supernaturals, and people in the known.**

**Please respond with the best fitting date and hour, as presented below.**

**Kind regards**

**Lisa Vermont  
Counsel representative USA – California**

Stiles swallowed thickly for a moment, explaining to the Nemeton what had happened, seeing as it couldn’t read and didn’t know where the sudden distress she was feeling was coming from.

_“This is a good thing, is it not? With the counsel’s approval you’ll be able to get a lot more done, and it well benefit you when helping others, as they will trust you more with the counsel’s seal of approval.”_

“I know that, I just never expected this to turn out this way! I’m just a bit overwhelmed with all this.”

He could feel the Nemeton nodded, or something close to it, as he smiled. Picking up his phone to dial his high school, arranging for him to come it that afternoon to arrange everything.

He also called the local bank to book an appointment to gain access to the bank account his earnings from the forum were on, and to get things like a new credit card and bank card sorted out.

Luck had it that he could come over immediately, giving him time before had to go and arrange everything at school to get his bank business in order, and ready for when he left.

Taking care of things at the bank had been over in less than half an hour, giving him plenty of time to drive to the school, and wait in his car for a moment, as to go in during a period instead of making his way through a sea of high school kids.

A knock on his window made him loop up from his phone, where he had been checking the PM’s he had received on the forum. Most of those were from people he had helped before, inviting him to come and stay at their packhouse, or what dubbed for it.

Scott was standing on the parking lot, a scowl on his face.

Sighing, Stiles got out of the car, checking his phone once more to be certain that the second period of the afternoon had started, so Scott was ditching class, before walking past the teen Alpha.

A rough hand on his elbow made him stop walking, but not turning, “Let me go, Scott.”

The grip on his arm tightened, becoming painful, making him wince, “No, you need to come with me to Deaton right now, he said you did something to the preserve! You can’t just to that, Stiles, stop acting like a brat just because of yesterday.”

Stiles let out a bark of laughter, “just because of yesterday, you, Scott McCall, have been ignoring me ever since the others left Beacon Hills, ordering me around like I was one off your little followers. Well, I’m not, screw you.”

The hand didn’t let go, and he began to feel it, “I said, you need to come to Deaton with me.”

Stiles scowled, “I don’t need to do anything, least of all go to that Druid. Let me go, Scott, now!”

Before the other could growl or do anything else, another voice spoke up, “I believe Stiles asked you to let go, McCall. So, unless you want assault on your criminal record, I suggest you let go before anyone here calls the cops.”

“Too late for that, Finstock, I already got a call McCall here is assaulting my son. Scott, last warning before I take you in, let Stiles go.”

Looking up, Stiles could see Coach Finstock standing close to his car, a pissed off look on his face at seeing Scott holding Stiles in an obvious painful grip. Next to him was his dad, in full uniform, with the cruiser parked next to his jeep.

When Scott still didn’t let go, he could hear his dad sighing, before taking the hand that held onto his arm and slapping cuffs around the wrist.

“Come along then, Scott, you can cool down at the station.”

With some help from the coach, they get Scott off and into the cruiser, a look of total disbelief on the teen Alpha’s face before it morphed into anger. A glare getting directed at Stiles, who just rolled his eyes at is former best friend.

Waving at his dad, he followed the coach into the school after Finstock mentioned he should do so.

“So, what’s this I hear about you graduating early?”

Stiles smiled, “Scott and I got into a fight yesterday, one where he doesn’t think he did anything wrong, as always. He’s been ignoring me since he got new friends to hang out with anyway, and I don’t have to stay and take that. I don’t really have anyone else here, except dad and he agreed that me getting out of Beacon Hills was the best thing for me.

I actually had an appointment at 1 PM to arrange everything.”

Checking his phone, and seeing it was 1:15, he hoped he wouldn’t be in too much trouble for being so late.

“Don’t worry about being late, I think about the whole school saw what went down, so you being late was not because of something of your doing, this time.”

Stiles only smiled at his former coach.

Coach Finstock sighed, “one other thing, Stilinski, with you down the only thing protecting this town will be your father and me, so do try to give me some contact info of other Supernaturals in the neighbourhood, will you?”

Stiles gaped at his coach, even if he had known all along that something wasn’t totally human about the man.

_“He’s a witch, at least 2 nd generation, they are known to stick in one place once they feel comfortable there.”_

Looking at his coach, he tried to compare him to other witches he had read about.

“So, a white witch, or a green witch?”

Coach smiled, “green one, 3rd generation, you figured that out fast.”

Stiles shrugged, “I had some help”, showing his wrist when the Nemeton told him it was okay to let him know.

Finstock gasped, “you’re the new guardian?”

Stiles nodded, “as of yesterday, which is probably why Deaton wants to see me, he wasn’t happy when the Nemeton choose my mom over him. So, he isn’t going to be happy that he chooses me this time.”

Finstock snorted, “Deaton thinks that just because he has the local puppy alpha in his pocket that he’s safe. Once you and the Nemeton leave, an influx of creatures will show up, he’s in for a rough ride then, so is McCall.”

Stiles grinned, “I still have your number from practice coach, I’ll send you some contact info and a log in to this forum I use. And let my dad know he can count on you for back-up.”

Coach waved at him as he knocked on the door to the principal’s office, hoping to be done with this quick, so he could arrange the last of his stuff and leave already.


	5. Chapter 5

Making sure everything was taken care of at school took him less than an hour, the principal had only heard good things from him, and with an average of 4.8, he knew he could afford to ask the school to let him graduate early.

With all of the paperwork filled in, a fond farewell from the principal, as well as several of his teachers who he crossed in the hallway, he felt reborn as he got to his car.

Smiling he put her in drive and made his way towards the mall, he needed to go and get his shopping done so he could start his new life, away from this hell hole.

Making sure to text his dad, they he would have an ally in protecting the town from invading creatures, or in general Supernaturals that didn’t have the wellbeing of its population in mind, in the form of his former coach, Bobby Finstock.

His dad texted him back, to let him know Scott had been detained, and Melissa was called to update her on why her son was in jail (the screaming that came from the phone after the nurse had heard that, had turned the ‘true alpha’ pale as snow) and that he’d have to stay there for the night.

He also asked for Finstock’s number, so he at least could put that on speed dial, should be need it.

Melissa also texted him, to apologise for Scott. But Stiles texted back, she wasn’t to blame for him turning out that way, he did that all by himself. He’d miss her too, but in the end, Scott was her son, so he had never felt like he could confide in her as to how much of an asshole Scott had turned into.

Stopping at the Mall, the Nemeton reminded him to answer the counsel, as to when he could visit to get a run through of everything they had to offer, as well as get him registered as a Counsel approved aide.

Opening the mail again, he send back that he was free tomorrow, and would love to come over to LA, at 1 PM, it was still a 2 hours drive from Beacon Hills to LA, so that way he had his morning to prepare for that conversation.

Opening a text message, he also texted Cal, the emissary of Alpha Ito’s pack, asking if it was possible for him to meet with them this week.

After sending that, he texted Deucalion if the Alpha had any tips on making a good impression to the counsel.

Locking his phone and putting it in his pocket, he entered the mall, making a mental list for everything he wanted to get today – to finally start preparing for his great debut in the Supernatural world, in person this time, instead of an online personality.

Entering the provider store, he smiled at the salesperson, recognizing her from high school, where she had been a few years ahead of him.

“Stilinski, how can I help you?”

“Hi, Anna, I kind of need a new phone, as well as a new SIM card, and an extension on my current mobile subscription.”

Anna hummed, “alright, let’s start with the current subscription, you have a regular with mobile data, unlimited texts and unlimited calls. What more would you need?”

Stiles grinned, “an international call/text add, as well as unlimited – or as close as possible mobile data package.”

Anna’s eyes widened, “finally leaving BH then?”

Stiles nodded, “got an invite from an international cooperation, which lets me finish college on the side, but will already employ me – so yeah, too good of a chance not to take them up on.”

Anna nodded, “right you are! Good luck, and congrats, when do you leave?”

“At the end of the week, I have an interview tomorrow to arrange all the details, so I’ll know then for sure, but I am aiming for the end of the week, or the beginning of the next.”

Anna smiled as she tapped things on her laptop, clicking several things, before humming.

“That’s all done, I guess you need the other SIM to have the same specs?”

Stiles nodded, “yes please!”

Anna nodded and tapped on het laptop again, printing an agreement to set up his new mobile subscription, this one he would use for his ‘business side’ of things.

Signing it, after adjusting the bank account it would be linked with, he gave it back and got a new SIM card in response.

“I don’t think I need to tell you how this all works, right?”

Stiles laughed, but shook his head, “nope, I’m all caught up with technology.”

Anne giggled, “now a new phone, I’m guessing you need a dual SIM phone then?”

Stiles nodded again, “yeah, and also one with quite the battery life.”

Anne nodded, before coming back with several leaflets which showed the specifications for each phone, raging from battery life, to camera specs, to internal memory.

Taking some time to compare the phones, he took an iPhone, the newest one of the market, even if it costs a pretty penny, he liked the specs the phone held, and a phone with a build in cloud seemed like the best way to go. He also brought a case for around it, as well as a power bank, for all the phone’s battery life was longer than the other phones he had looked at; one could never be too careful in making sure ones phone stayed alive long enough.

Accepting the bag Anna gave him, he nodded at her and waved as he left the store, he’d start up his phone once he was home, as well as activate his new SIM card.

His next stop was a luggage store, where he brought several bags. One was a huge suitcase, which he could use to store clothes in while he was one the road. He had thought this trough and had measured the dimensions of his Jeep’s trunk and brought a case that would fit in it perfectly, giving him more than enough room to put clothes and other personal items.

He also got a matching tinier trunk for any flights he needed to do, as a carry-on case, and a bag for his toiletries.

The last thing he brought was a backpack, which Nemeton had told him he would teach him some rune sequences to expand it, so he wouldn’t need to carry a huge hiking bag if he was ever called to a remote location.

Thanking the store owner fer his help, he asked if he could leave his purchases in the store until he was finished with his errands in the mall.

The store owner didn’t have a problem with it, and who would with the amount of money he had just spend in the store. But he still thanked the store owner and promised to be back in a few hours to come and collect his purchased.

His last stop of the day were several different clothing stores, where he browsed through the aisles, taking off everything that he remembered Erica, Lydia or Allison ever telling him he’d look great in. Trying them on, he’d send pictured to the group chat named ‘Queens’.

It didn’t take long before either of the girls answered telling what to buy and what not to buy.

Thanking them for their help in this mission, all of them replied that it was their pleasure, and they couldn’t wait to see him.

He explained he planned on getting out of BH by the end of the week, and he’d see to coming to visit them all, after he’d arrange everything he needed to have put in order to be able to leave.

This got him responses of all of their faces beaming up at the camera, Erica’s had Boyd, Cora, Derek and Peter in the background, all five of them beaming at the camera – with the eldest Hale seemingly in the process of waving at the camera when the picture was taken.

Lydia had the twins and Danny cuddled up against her, with Jackson a bit further away, but no less beaming than the 4 in the foreground.

Allison’s had her dad standing behind her, with Isaac cuddled up against her, all three of them beaming in the picture.

He saved all of them on his phone, promising himself to put them on his new phone as soon as possible, it felt great to see them all again and looking do happy – even his mind reminded him that this could be because they would see him again.

Putting his purchases into the jeep, he went back inside to go and get his travel bags from the store, thanking the owner once more for holding onto them until he had finished with everything else. Putting them into his trunk, he got back into his jeep, a soft smile on his face.

He’d use the evening to already start packing, as well as to wash all his new clothes, throwing out his old clothes, or giving them to good will – a lot of his baggy clothing could make someone very happy.

Once he was seated, the Nemeton spoke again.

_“I remember this vehicle, Claudia used to drive around in it too.”_

Stiles nodded, “yeah, it used to be mom’s. I got it in her will and have been driving in it ever since I got my driver’s license.”

_“I also remember Claudia tell me that she modified it, with her spark, so that it could keep on running even without gas. She did some other things with it too.”_

Stiles gasped, “really? Maybe that’s why she had been having such a hard time to keep running. I have a lot of trouble with her running smoothly.”

The Nemeton hummed, _“I believe she put a rune sequence in the little compartment at the passenger’s side, maybe we can look it over when we get home, it could be your first lesson in rune sequences too.”_

“Yes, please, I’d love to!”

The Nemeton hummed as he put his jeep in drive and made his way home. His dad was home when he arrived, so he texted him that he was home, but taking a look at something with the Nemeton before coming inside. Noah came out after receiving the text, looking over Stiles’ shoulder as his son opened the glove compartment and the Nemeton pointed out the rune sequences.

Stiles blinked once, “I remember these, mom used to drill me on these, and other scripts, I had just forgotten. If I am reading right, I just have to give them a touch of my spark, right?”

The Nemeton nodded, _“very good, little spark.”_

Stiles nodded, running his fingers over the runes, making them lit up as he poured a bit of his spark in them. As he took his hand away, a slight glow remained, letting him know it had worked and the runes were powered once again.

_“This will last quite a while, with how potent your spark is, we just need to check it regularly, to make sure they aren’t empty.”_

Stiles nodded, but smiled, “it will also be very nice to not have to pay for gas every few days.”

Turning to his dad, he explained everything that had happened today. Giving him the number of the coach, as well as his brand new log in for the forum. He also texted coach the web address, as well as his own log in.

He got a text back 10 minutes later, praising him for the innovatively of the forum, as well for the contact information he could find on it. Coach also wished him luck, and to check in with him and his dad whenever he could.

Smiling, he was reminded that he wasn’t alone anymore, not even in Beacon Hills, even if that couldn’t make his stay. He had an adventure in front of him and he wanted to enjoy that as much as possible. The only thing that would make him come back to Beacon Hills, would be if something happened to coach, Melissa, or his dad.


	6. Chapter 6

As Stiles proposed they go and eat at the diner, his dad’s eyes started gleaming, so he sighed and agreed for the man to eat a burger and fries, no matter how much he wanted the man to live as long as possible, he also knew he hated the diet he had put him on, in an effort to keep him alive.

After the last medical exam, and a very low cholesterol value, he guessed it wasn’t that bad for him to start eating a bit greasy again, even if he hoped his dad would cook for himself as well, as only greasy foods would put his cholesterol numbers through the roof again.

Noah promised his son to watch what he’d eat once Stiles left, knowing that his son only did what he did because he worried and wanted to help him, which now that he thought about it, shouldn’t be the job of his son, but his own.

As they arrived at the diner, his phone went off, looking at the caller ID, he picked up, greeting Deucalion on the other side.

“I saw you plan on finally leaving Beacon Hills, according to the forum, I take it the counsel question pertains to that”, a cultured voice asked from the other side.

Stiles hummed, “yeah, I got tired of Scott’s attitude, and I found out some stuff that made me want to leave. Maybe we’ll meet sometime soon, I’ll tell you the details then.”

Deuce chuckled, “I’ll be there tomorrow for your talk with Lisa, we can meet up then, maybe have lunch together.”

Stiles smiled, “I’d like that, so, any tips?”

Deuce laughed, “just be yourself, mischief, you’ve already charmed them with the forum idea, and now they just want to snatch you up before someone else does. Keep that in mind, yeah, I already know of several packs that would love you to be their emissary.”

Stiles blushed, “I think the only pack I’d like to be the emissary off will be the Hale pack, once Derek, Peter or Cora becomes an alpha again.”

Deuce laughed, “that’s what I told most of the alpha’s who contacted me as well, I’m just warning you. As well as telling you, you’ll do amazing tomorrow. Remember they contacted you, and they want you to work for them, not the other way around. Don’t worry about it, it’ll turn out right.”

“Alright, thanks Deuce, see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, mischief.”

The Nemeton made a questionable noise, _“Mischief?”_

Stiles nodded, “it’s a nickname, my mom used to call me that. Also, Deuce wouldn’t call me Stiles, and he can’t pronounce my actual name, not a lot of people can, so I proposed he call me mischief.”

The Nemeton nodded, _“I see, would you like me to call you anything else?”_

Stiles shook his head, “nah, I like being called little spark by you, it’s also what mom called me, so it reminds me of her. Is there any name I can call you?”

_“I was once given the name Havardr, which means guardian or defender in your language. It was a male name, for all that I know, but without me having a gender I did not care. However, a lot of my previous guardians were women, so I always felt more comfortable, after, to be regarded as such, having spend a lot of time bonding and living together with women. So, call me Hava, if you would like. Although being called Nemeton is fine too.”_

Stiles smiled, “I kind of like the sound of Hava, so I think I’ll call you that, it, for me, creates a more personal connection because I can say your name, instead of addressing you with your species.”

_“And it is much appreciated, little spark.”_

With that out of the way, Stiles made his way into the diner, seeing his dad already seated at their usual booth, Agnes the diner lady at his side, conversing with him.

“Hi Agnes”, Stiles said as he took a seat in the booth that was unofficially his dad and his’.

Agnes smiled at him, “Hello, Stiles, your dad has been telling me you got quite the proposal for a big company.”

Stiles nodded, he had asked his dad to tell others he had gotten a gig at an international company, who’d even sponsor him through college while he worked there. So, to at least have aligning stories when people asked.

“Yeah, I have my interview tomorrow at the LA branch, they’ll be telling me all the details then, I’m really looking forward to it!”

Agnes smiled, “I’ll say, you were always worth more than this little town, but never forget where you come from; and jump in now and again, when you’re nearby.”

Stiles nodded, “of course, have to visit dad now and again too, you know. But I’ll also remember to come and eat the best curly fries around!”

Agnes laughed at that, leaving for a moment to bring Noah a beer, while Stiles accepted a chocolate milkshake.

“The usual, boys?”

Stiles nodded, while Noah ordered a burger menu with regular fries, with a salad to the side.

Just as Agnes turned around, Stiles felt his phone vibrating, checking, he saw that Cal had texted back.

**Tomorrow at 9:30?**

Texting back that this would be perfect, as Alpha Ito’s packhouse was on the way to LA, so he could stop there before making his way towards the counsel’s headquarters.

Turning to his dad, he smiled, “I’ll be out for most likely the whole day tomorrow. I have a meeting with the counsel, and Cal, Satomi’s emissary, they’re the neighbouring pack, just texted me back for a meeting tomorrow morning. I also have a lunch date with Deucalion.”

Noah tilted his head,” who’s Deucalion?”

“He’s someone else in service of the counsel, he and his packmates go and investigate new formed, or newly taken over, packs to see if they’re safe for everyone in them. As well, if needed, to take out the alpha so the next in line will become one – to guarantee the safety of the pack.”

Noah hummed, “think he’ll make a stop here again?”

Stiles nodded, “he’s been hinting at it for a while now, he probably will once his second and third in command are back from their honeymoon.”

Noah nodded, “can you give him my contact details tomorrow then? So, I can get a heads up for when they arrive.”

“Sure thing, pops.”

Noah smiled at his son, both of them smiling at Agnes as she came and put their plates in front of them.

“Now, you boys both enjoy, alright! And Noah, don’t be a stranger, I’m sure we can fix you something to eat that isn’t covered in grease.”

Noah and Stiles beamed at her, Noah because he never learned how to cook, unless you count making toast as cooking. And Stiles because he knew that his dad wouldn’t be alone after he left, which was the only thing he hated himself for, for leaving his dad.

_“Your dad already told you he didn’t mind, little spark, don’t do this to yourself. He, and Claudia, knew this day would come eventually, enjoy it like the experience it is, instead of trying to hold yourself back for someone who already let you know he wants this for you too.”_

“Thanks for reminding me, Hava.”

_“It was of no problem, little spark. Do not forget the other things you wanted to get done today.”_

Stiles nodded, knowing he had to wash at least one set of his new clothes for the meetings tomorrow. As well as setting up his new phone, and putting his new number on the forum, for people to call, should they need him.

He also needed to order business cards but feared they wouldn’t arrive in time for him leaving.

_“I will show you a rune sequence to put on a pair of boxes, so that you can still order things at your home address, and your dad can get them to you in such a way.”_

Stiles smiled, “that’ll be great, I’ll just stop at Walmart on the way home to get 2 boxes which can fit up to middle size items.”

He could feel Hava nodding against his wrist, which was rather odd, seeing as all the leaves would move, tickling his skin.

Enjoying his meal, as well as the small talk he exchanged with his dad, they left the diner after saying goodbye to Agnes, and Bob, the one behind the grill, both of them coming out again to hug Stiles and to wish him well.

Telling his dad, they needed to stop at Walmart first, he explained why he would need it, and Noah agreed to help, was all to happy even to help with such things. He also asked Hava if it could go both ways, for things like Christmas presents or other things Stiles wanted to get to Noah.

Hava just nodded again, making both Stilinski men smile.

Once he had what he needed at Walmart, they headed back home, with Noah already heading to bed, as he had an early shift tomorrow. Pressing a kiss to Stiles’ head, like he used to do when his son was a lot smaller, he wished him goodnight.

After his dad went to sleep, Stiles made sure to wash a couple of outfits, as well as put them out to dry, the May temperatures doing just that. In between figuring out his new phone, starting it up and putting the SIM cards in the right slots, as well as an SD card for more memory storage, he put his new number on the announcement wall, asking people to only start calling/texting once he put up he was available.

With that taken care of, he folded or stored away his new clothes and put in another machine, resulting in all his clothes being washed already, with only one load still hanging out to dry.

Taking out the boxes he had brought, Hava pointed a leaf at the lid.

_“Remove that.”_

As Stiles did so, setting the lid down next to him, Have pointed at the bottom of the box, _“You need to draw a circle on it, before filling it with runes for transport, whole and together. Both boxes will need that. If you’re done with that, you need to draw a circle on the inside of the lid, and put the runes for transport, closed, start and whole among the circles.”_

Stiles nodded and did just that, even if it took him a few tries to get the circles to be perfectly round.

As he wrote the runes on the inside of the circle, he found that it all came to him naturally, like he had done this before, a thousand times even.

_“That’s because sparks, especially when they are of the same family, retain parts of the knowledge their parent had. You will find that some things will come really easy for you, as Claudia had already done it, or because one of your grandparents, or their parents, or their parents’ parents were proficient in it.”_

Stiles hummed, “so sparks have genetic memory?”

Hava nodded, _“partly, yes. You will never retain everything, but some things, especially those things your ancestors were fairly proficient in, should stay with you.”_

“Neat, I think I’m ready.”

Have loosened herself from his wrist and checked the boxes over, _“this was done very well, now all you need to do is add some spark to the runes, to activate them.”_

Nodding, Stiles did just that, lighting up the runes as he ran his finger across them, the glow staying even after he pulled his hands away, signalling they were ready to use. Testing it out with a comic he had laying around, he put it in one box, closed to lid, and when he opened the other box, the comic was in it, making him smile.

The other few hours he had before he went to bed were spend organising his room in piles of; ‘stays here’, ‘coming with – so pack’ and ‘charity’.

When he went to bed, however, he felt very accomplished, and went to sleep with a smile on his face.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to those of you who don’t celebrate!  
> Have this little gift from me, an extra chapter outside the usual posting days!

The next morning started with him texting his dad to remind the man he wouldn’t be home until at least late afternoon, just to be sure his dad remembered, and didn’t think something had happened.

The text he got back reflected that his dad didn’t forget but found it sweet that Stiles remembered to remind him of it, as he was prone to forget some things after a long shift.

Showering, with Hava still on his wrist, the Nemeton enjoying the spray of water that was warmer than any rain she had ever felt. He dressed in one of his new outfits, a dark blue jeans that fit well around his legs and a red dress shirt, he had after all taken on the name Red on the forum, might as was use that.

A lot of his new clothes held at least some red in them, he had made it something of a recuring theme. Wanting to have something that people could recognize him by, without saying anything.

At just past 8, he made sure he had his new phone, a notebook and some pens, packed away in his car, to be sure he had something to write things down, either with Satomi, or at the counsel’s headquarters.

Making a coffee for on the road, and stopping at the bakery at the end of the road for breakfast, he started his journey, first to Alpha Ito’s pack house, and after wards to LA.

As he arrived at the address he knew the pack house to be located, he slowly edged onto the driveway, the long thin road leading up to quite a big house (it reminded him a bit of the pictures he had seen of the Hale Pack house, before the fire).

Killing the engine as he parked at the front, he got out and was greeted by Cal, a 50-something man with Asian roots, dark hair, a slightly darker skin and cheerful hazel eyes.

“Stiles, welcome.”

Stiles smiled and went to hug the man, he had met with him before, is an effort to renew the treaty that had been in effect between the Hale pack and Satomi’s pack, but Scott had never done anything with it, much to his displeasure.

He had however given the man a log in for the forum, which he had enjoyed immensely, and they had started a friendship where they exchanged information, or where Stiles did some digging on the internet, if Cal couldn’t find anything.

“It’s nice to be here, and I have to say I did miss talking to you face-to-face.”

Cal nodded, “I can understand that I missed talking to you too. But I get the impression that this won’t be a problem anymore?”

Stiles shook his head, telling Cal of what had happened and what he planned on doing. As well as the proposal the counsel had given him.

Cal whistled as he told him about the counsel, as well as the fact that he was meeting them after they had this conversation.

A soft voice spoke from behind him, “you must be even more than Cal described you, if the counsel picks you up as soon as you finish high school.”

Turning around, Stiles was met with a woman in the back of her fifties, also of obvious Asian descent, a slight smile on her face.

Bowing his head, Stiles greeted the woman, “Alpha Ito.”

“Mr. Stilinski, I’m afraid I have no idea how to pronounce your first name. Welcome to my pack home, I assume your request for a meeting pertains to you leaving Beacon Hills?”

Stiles nodded, “don’t worry, not a lot of people can pronounce it right. But yes, that is why I approached Cal.”

Satomi nodded, a smile still on her face, “let us take this to my office then.”

Beckoning them to follow, they did as such, entering a grand office on the first floor, taking a seat on one side of the desk in the office, Satomi and Cal took seats on the other sides. With Satomi sitting in the grand chair behind the desk, and Cal taking a seat on a chair at one of the desk sides.

Looking at Stiles, she kept on smiling, nodding at him to tell what it is he came here to tell them.

“I will be leaving at the end of the week, as Cal most likely had told you, I am the main reason out monster of the week doesn’t get further than Beacon Hills, seeing as Alpha McCall has a no-killing policy.”

Satomi and Cal snorted, mirroring Stiles’ opinion about that policy.

“I agree, however, I stayed in the assumption I was his emissary. However alpha McCall let me know his emissary is Alan Deaton, so I informed him he can go to the druid for his information instead of using me for that.”

Cal snorted, “I’m assuming he didn’t like that?”

Stiles shook his head, “nope, he thought I should keep doing the research, seeing as I was the reason, he became a werewolf, and that was me doing something back for him and his pack. As you might realise, this was my last straw, and I began making plans to leave.”

Satomi nodded, “and what of the Nemeton in Beacon Hills?”

Stiles grinned, before rolling up the sleeve of his arm, showing of the vine that was Hava now.

“She will be coming with me.”

Cal chocked, wide eyes looking at Stiles, before looking at the Nemeton again.

Satomi just had wide eyes, before they softened, “I know I recognized that smell, you are Claudia’s boy then?”

Stiles nodded, telling both what really happened to his mom, and Deaton’s hand in it. He also told them of how he came upon Hava and how they had bonded, both of them wanting to get out of Beacon Hills.

“This also means that when I leave, Beacon Hills will stop having the barrier it had before when Hava was planted there, I came here to warn you for an increase in hostiles in the area.”

Satomi nodded, “and we appreciate the heads-up, is there someone still in Beacon Hills that we may contact, as I refuse to get in contact with the druid.”

Stiles nodded, before taking a page from his notebook and writing down his own (new) phone number, as well as his dad’s and coach Finstock.

“That’s my phone number, I can have a call around should there be others around that could help with whatever situation you have going on. The other two are my dad’s and a green witch still in Beacon Hills, they already told me they’d keep an eye out when I leave, so.”

Satomi nodded before taking the piece of paper, “thank you for this, and for the warning.”

“Talking about warnings, Deucalion might come to Beacon Hills again in the near future, he has been hinting he might be sent this way again. Just so you know.”

Satomi and Cal nodded again, thanking him for the information he provided.

As they walked him to the door, Cal added, “don’t be a stranger when you’re nearby, alright, Stiles, you’re welcome here whenever.”

Looking at Satomi to be sure, and seeing the Alpha nod, he smiled and nodded, “I’ll be sure to do that!”

Driving to LA was something Stiles hadn’t done a whole lot of times, mostly because there hadn’t been a need to do so, with for as small a town Beacon Hills was, it had a mall, as well as any stores even teenagers would need.

So driving into the huge city was a new experience, one he had hoped to enjoy more, even if nerves started to creep up on him, now that he would meet with Lisa Vermont, the counsel representative he had only been in contact with by mail.

Following the direction from the GPS app on his phone, he parked in front of a huge building in downtown LA. From the research he had done, it hosted the counsel, as well as their front business, one to help families less fortunate than most (even if those families were almost always Supernaturals).

Entering the big sliding doors, he was met with a front office where secretaries were helping others by directing them to the elevator and telling which floor they had to get off.

_“The secretaries are 2 werewolves, a werefox and a white witch. The family which just entered the elevator are nosferatu, a higher form of vampire which explains why they can come out at daytime. The women getting help is a selkie, and the man on the other side of the desk is of fae descent, but not a pureblood.”_

Stiles swallowed, “you can just deduce that from seeing them?”

_“No, I can feel it, it goes hand in hand with the sensing of emotions which I still have to teach you. Weres of any kind have something feral to them, while witches exclude a certain kind of aura. Vampires and nosferatu feel cold to the senses, while selkie and other water dwellers feel wet, and fae just feel tingly.”_

“Tingly?”

Hava nodded, _“their magic is not like yours or mine, which comes from inside us, fae magic comes from to Earth, so it leaves a tingly taste behind, because it is so different than ours.”_

Stiles hummed, before approaching the werefox and smiling, “I had an appointment with Lisa Vermont? At 1 PM.”

The woman nodded, looking at her screen before looking back up at him, “Stilinski?”

“Yes, madam.”

She nodded once more before directing him to the elevator, “you should take the elevator to the 10th floor, Lisa will be waiting for you once you get off. Have good day.”

“You too, thank you for your help.”

Once he got into the elevator, he put his phone on silent, so that it couldn’t go off while he was talking to Lisa. The elevator stopped once on the third floor, opening up to reveal.

“Kali, Ennis, you’re back from you honeymoon! Congratulations once more!”

“Stiles! We weren’t expecting you in LA, what are you doing here!”

Smiling at Kali, Stiles explained what he was here to do, as well as what Deuce had kept from them.

Kali huffed, while Ennis just smiled, “this is so Deuce to keep this from us, I take it you’re our lunch date then?”

Stiles nodded, “I guess so, I’ll text you after I get out of my appointment with Lisa, if that’s alright with you. I have no idea how long this going to take.”

Kali and Ennis smiled, “not that long, Lisa’s been in a good mood since you agreed to become a representative of the counsel, so I’m sure she’ll say yes to just about everything you ask of her. They all think its brilliant with what you have done with the forum, and the messages we get about it are always positive as well. People love you for it, as does the counsel, even if most haven’t met the exclusive ‘Red’ yet.”

Stiles smiled shyly, “I just did what I thought would help, not because I wanted something from it.”

Ennis smiled, “we know that, and that makes it even more special, you did this because you like helping other, and because you love researching, but you mostly did this to help others, and that makes you a very favourable person to a lot of people who wished to do the same thing, but didn’t know how.”

Kali added, “also, a lot of people have been asking about you when we visit, especially when we started giving the web address to the forum out to new packs. Lots of people actually want to meet you.”

Stiles beamed, explaining his plans for next week, as well as the plans for business cards.

“Remind me to send you some, so you can give them away to new packs, I’ll put my own phone number on it, as well as the web address to the forum and my mail address. “

Kali and Ennis nodded, “that’s a good idea!”

They got out off at the 8th floor, waving at him and wishing him luck.

When the elevator door finally opened, it was to show Stiles a blond-haired, blue-eyed woman of 30-something.


	8. Chapter 8

The moment he got off the elevator, Hava whispered to him, _“She’s of the fae.”_

Stiles shrugged, not minding, he just wanted to learn more and getting to know more Supernaturals would only increase the knowledge he would hold.

Smiling at Lisa, he extended his hand, “Hi Lisa, Mieczyslaw Stilinski, but call me Stiles or Red, as I know my first name is a quite a mouthful.”

Lise smiled at him and too his offered hand, “Stiles then, welcome in the LA headquarters of the counsel, we’re so happy to have you here today.”

Stiles nodding and followed her as he led her to an office just off the hallway where the elevator opened up, opening the door and letting him inside, where some snacks and drinks had been prepared.

“Eum, I don’t want to be rude, but is the whole ‘don’t take anything to eat and drink from a fae’ thing real?”

Lisa stared at him for a moment, before smiling, “that only counts if you were to be in the Underhill, as long as we’re here in the human realm this doesn’t hold.”

_“She is right, little spark, to take something from a fae is to let them know you want to stay with them. Doing so in their realm would mean you wouldn’t be able to leave, at least not without insulting them.”_

Stiles hummed, but took a seat, smiling at Lisa, as he poured some water in a glass and offered to do the same thing for her.

“You know, Stiles, you’re the first human in a long time to guess what I am on the first try.”

Stiles grinned, “I have to confess I had some help”, as he said this, he showed his wrist again, as well as the Nemeton that was on it.

Lisa gasped, “the Beacon Hills Nemeton, you are its new guardian?”

Stiles nodded, “yes, I am, it’s a very recent thing, however. We bonded a few days ago, with me taking over from my mother who was the previous guardian.”

Lisa stilled, “Claudia, she was a spark if I remember correctly.”

Stiles nodded again, “yeah, I am as well.”

_“And one significant more powerful than Claudia was, as well.”_

Hava had come off his wrist and was sitting on the table or was that curled up on the table.

Lisa swallowed thickly, “you have always been the strongest Nemeton around, Hava, to know that you call you new guardian a strong spark, I might just be scared to ask how strong he is.”

Hava laughed, _“Do not worry, he does not have one cell in his body that thinks of using it for malicious intent. He wants to help others, and with the bonds he had to the Alpha in Beacon Hills, he can do so while travelling the world.”_

Lisa smiled, “yes, we were also very happy you wanted to do so as a representative of the counsel, Stiles, after all the good you have done for the community, to have you on the field will be something of a boon for us.

I am sure Deucalion already told you, in part, what this would mean for you. But I asked for this meeting to tell this all to you in more detail.

Is there anything you would like to know, to start with?”

Stiles opened up his notebook, with a few questions already written in it; “Yeah, for starters, what is it the counsel expects of me?”

Lisa smiled, “to just keep doing what you already have been doing, just on site, instead of behind your computer screen. You have to know Stiles, that the counsel gets a lot of calls for help from a lot of people, and since the birth of your forum, a lot more have been able to get the help they needed.

We already have some people on the road, like Deucalion’s pack, but its never enough, so people who want that kind of lifestyle, and who don’t mind the relation they’ll have with the counsel because of that, are rare, and a very welcome asset.”

Stiles nodded, writing that down under the question he had written.

“Alright, next one, is this like a freelance contract thing then, or how do I see this?”

“It’s exactly like that, we’ll call or mail you the details, you go over and help the people/pack/group… in question with whatever problem they’re having. We’ll pay you for the hours you spend helping them, but the contacts or assignments you get because they gave your info away is all for you.

You have to understand that the counsel has been around for a very long time, and that we have an income from stocks or holdings we use as a front, some even get government support. Anyway, we can’t be anywhere at once, and we need to have someone who is curious enough to want to seek out others in the community, yet respectful enough to keep certain etiquette in mind, yet still willingly enough to help others out of their own free will.”

Stiles wrote it all down, something Lisa seemed to find funny, by the look on her face.

“And what exactly will my relationship with the counsel be?”

“You’ll be, as already discussed, a freelancer under our employment. Every gig you take on your own is yours to do with as you wish, but in turn we do expect help when we ask for it, or when we send a gig your way.

We’ll give you the needed identification, to show others that you are indeed in employment for us, as well as a special international passport, which will allow you to cross whatever border you need to cross – as I have been told you wouldn’t mind going internationally.”

Stiles shook his head, showing he did indeed not mind.

Lisa nodded, “you’ll also get a log in for our personal server, so you can always get to data of others in the neighbourhood, or the address of a safehouse or counsel base.”

“Alright so, if I understand correctly, I can do as I please, as long as I head whatever case you send my way. Get paid for doing said case, on top of whatever I earn on my own. I get a badge of some kind that will announce me as a counsel representative, and a log in to the data log of the counsel, for any data I might need pertaining a case, other counsel representatives, or the location of the embassy or safehouse, of the counsel if that particular country or state.”

Lisa nodded, “it’s exactly that. Also, we took liberty of compiling a list of colleges who have courses for the in the know, which translate to an actual degree for you to look at. When you choose, the counsel is willing to pay the entrance fees, as well as any additional money needed for the completion of the course.”

Stiles blinked a few times, before making a grabbing motion with his hands. Looking over the leaflets, he was shocked to know how many Ivy League universities, or colleges connected to those Ivy Leagues, were in the known.

He put them in between his notebook, “can I think about which one I’d like to go to, seeing as it will have to be online.”

Lisa nodded, “of course, we didn’t expect you to decide right now, does this mean you’re on board?”

Nodding, Stiles smiled, “yeah, I am, I am really looking forward to all this. How long do you need to get everything in order?”

“Ah, just a couple of hours. Let’s just go down a few floors and I’ll get you the paperwork that needs to be filled out. If I understand correctly you have a lunch date with the Alpha pack, so after that is done everything should be ready to go. If you’d just come back here after meeting with Deucalion, Ennis and Kali, I’ll give you everything you need and you’re all set.

You’ll have until august to let us know which college you chose to attend, as well as which courses you will take, so we can get everything in order, seeing as it’ll have to be done in our ways, as not everyone on campus is in the known.”

Stiles nodded, “understandable, I’ll be sure to let you know which one I chose, I plan on visiting my pack mates first though, now that I am not bound to Beacon Hills, but that still won’t mean I can’t do some gigs in between.”

Lisa smiled, “so that’s the Santos pack in Brazil, the Hughes pack in London, and the Argent family in Paris, if I am not mistaken.”

Stiles nodded, smiling, “yeah, I promised to swing by each of them, especially now that I can enjoy my freedom.”

Lisa nodded, “totally understand that, do you already have an idea of the order you’ll visit them? So, we know not to send you any cases from America when you’re in Europe, and the other way around.”

Stiles thought for a moment, “going to Brazil first, then to Paris, and lastly to London, before I’m returning to the USA.”

Lisa smiled, I’ll be sure to send you the information of the emissaries of those packs, so you can let them know you’ll be visiting, I’m sure none of them will have a problem with that, and know of your forum from their newest pack members. If anything, they’ll be happy to finally meet you in person.”

Stiles smiled at that, “that would be great, if I could get that contact information, I might just be able to surprise them like that.”

A soft smile lit up Lisa’s face as the elevator stopped and they made their way towards a cubicle, Lisa greeting the person sitting in front of her, a young woman with a darker coloured skin tone, probably from Indian or Pakistani descent.

_“She’s also a Naga, if you look closely, you should be able to see through her glamour, but that’s considered insulting, so don’t do it.”_

Nodding, he smiled at the woman in front of him.

Lisa giggled, “Amyra, this is Stiles, he’ll need the forms for a counsel supported badge, and an international passport.”

Amyra nodded and looked through her computer, printing the requested forms and giving them to Stiles along with a pen. Looking them over, Stiles made sure to fill everything in correctly. Feeling exited to be starting this adventure.

Giving all the forms back to Amyra, she looked it over, before nodding, “that seems to be in order, I’m looking forward to working with you!”

Lisa nodded at Amyra, “let me get you to Deucalion, alright, and I’ll be seeing you in a few hours.”

Saying his goodbyes to Amyra, he followed Lisa out of the cubicle and back into the elevator.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all the best for 2021.  
> To start off the year amazingly, have a new chapter!

Lisa guided him to the third floor, the same floor Ennis and Kali had come out of when he took the elevator.

“Third floor holds our residential rooms, for those who need a room for a few nights, seeing as most of these people travel far and wide for us, we all agreed that the last thing we could do was to make sure they had a place to stay, in the event they come in last minute, or if every hotel close by is booked.”

Stiles hummed at that, happy to know that he had this option available for him, now that he would soon be under the employment of the counsel. He knew he had a lot of places he could crash, more than one person he had helped before offering to let him spend the night, should he ever be close.

“That is good to know, in the case I ever don’t have a place to crash in for the night.”

Lisa nodded, “a list of places that are ours and offer rooms is also one of the things you can look at, with your log in for the counsel website.”

Stiles beamed at her, “great!”

Leading him down a corridor, Lisa knocked on a door, the voices inside the room stopping as the door was opened. The man standing there a welcome sight.

“Yes Lisa?”

Lisa smiled, “I am bringing your lunch date.”

Stepping to the side, Stiles approached the alpha in front of him, his face showing a smile.

“Mischief.”

“Hi Deuce, you ready to go? I promised to text Ennis and Kali, but from the voices I think they’re already here, no?”

Deuce frowned, “so you already know they’ll be joining us?”

Stiles hummed, “they entered the elevator as I was going up for my meeting with Lisa.”

Deucalion looked back at his two friends, an innocent look on both their faces, “sure, let’s go with that.”

Stiles laughed at that, he figures Ennis and Kali had sniffed him out and stepped onto elevator at the right moment, just to see him again. After all he had called with Deuce more than he had done with them, not wanting to disturb their honeymoon.

“But yes, we’re ready. Thank you, Lisa, for bringing Stiles here, we’ll see you in a few hours.”

As it was only 2 PM, they had time enough to find a kitchen that was still open and preparing food, even now that the lunch rush was over. Kali and Ennis lead them through the streets of LA, stopping in front of what seemed a regular diner, if not for the rune matric Stiles could see over the door.

_“It keeps those out of the loop out of the door. In essence it’s a Supernatural only diner.”_

Gaping, Stiles turned to Deucalion, “there is such a thing as a diner for people like us.”

Deucalion looked surprised at Stiles fast discovery, but nodded, “there are some al over the world, it was the first version of what your forum became in recent years. People came to these to exchange information, or to ask for help when they needed it. However, it never reached the right among of people, they still fall under the counsel, and you are always welcome in one of these.”

Stiles hummed, “that’s great to know!”

Before he could say anything else, a tall man approached Deucalion, “what have you been telling him, who is this Deuce?”

Deucalion smiled, “Eladithas, this is Mischief who I have been telling you about. He also goes by Red.”

The diner suddenly went very quiet, Stiles saw several people sitting around.

_“Eladithas is a dark elf, there’s a family of dwarfs in the corner, a pair of selkie at the window seat, a family of were cats further back and a few loners; a banshee, an incubus, and a green witch.”_

Suddenly more than one person was standing in front of him, thanking him for what he had done for the community, how much his forum had helped them, the banshee thanked him for bringing him in contact with someone the same as she, and even Eladithas seemed stunned to have him in his diner.

Deucalion waved them away, “he’ll be here for a few hours, but I know Mischief here needs to eat. Especially now that he had sighed on with the counsel as a freelance advisor for whoever who needs it.”

He saw several of the people going back to their seats, their phones out, no doubt texting other people that they had met him.

Eladithas followed him to their table, where Kali and Ennis were already sitting. The dark elf seemingly dazed at meeting him.

Before he brought them a menu, he put his hand over Stiles’, “I can not thank you enough, Red, I started this whole diner idea, and a few were on board and did the same thing in their city, but there’s not enough around the globe. With your forum we have a way of making contact with others like us, to ask for help, but also to just talk to others – this is a very important thing for the few of us who are solidarity beings, not everyone wants or needs a pack, or a kiss, a family, but that doesn’t take away that we like talking to others, you gave that to us.”

Stiles smiled shyly, “I just wanted to help others as I helped my pack, I like researching and I wanted to share that, especially when I didn’t find anything like that on the internet.”

Eladithas smiled back ,”no one of us thought about it, you have to know, Red, that some of us are very old, and while we do catch up with the changes these times bring, we don’t think as young ones do. So again, really, thank you, for what you have done.”

Stiles smiled, “you’re very welcome.”

Eladithas left a couple of menus, before going to see what he could do for another table. Looking at the menu, Stiles could see they had curly fries, so he planned on tasting to ones here, together was a burger.

Ennis, Kali and Deucalion hadn’t opened their menus, so he guessed they came here a lot, to already know what they wanted to order.

Eladithas approached their table again, “ready to order.”

Nodding, Stiles ordered the cheeseburger, with a side of curly fries. Kali ordered two burgers, no side dishes, with Ennis following her example. Deucalion ordered a pasta dish, as well as a side of fries.

As Eladithas left, all three of the alphas turned to Stiles, “so what is it that you wanted to tell us in person?”

Stiles took a deep breath before telling them everything that had happened with Scott, following with his meeting with the Nemeton and getting to know what had happened to his mother, and Alan Deaton’s role in that.

All three alphas growled, none of them, hell no one in the counsel liked that druid if one could classify him as that. Just from what Stiles had told them, he could be hunted for turning Darach. They did give him their condolences for is mother.

It was Ennis however who asked after the Nemeton and what would happen to it now.

Stiles grinned, before rolling up his sleeve again, making Deucalion choke, while the other alphas just looked at his wrist oddly.

“You are her next guardian? And for the first time since olden times she chose to come with you?”

Stiles nodded, his eyes looking around, to the awestruck look in everyone in the diner.

“Is it… Is it that big of a deal then?”

Deucalion nodded, “being chosen the guardian of a Nemeton is special enough, but with you being a spark that is even more special, as sparks are the best guardians for Nemeton. The fact that she had chosen to move from the place she has been for millennia, speaks for itself, and for the things we can expect from you, Mischief.”

Eladithas came to stand by their table again, his eyes fixated on Hava, “he is right, Red, the last time this happened was in what is now known as the ancient times, this person whose name was lost in time was however the one to build and keep the tower of babel, which for that time held a lot of knowledge over the community.”

Deucalion nodded, “there is one other who had this happen for them, a spark who went by the name of Emrys, in this time he is known as Merlin, in the Arthurian legends.”

Stiles chocked, “so this is only the third time this has happened.”

Those around him nodded, “as far as we know, there might have been records of it happening in the Tower of Babel, but those were destroyed somewhere around the start of the middle ages. With the rise of the Catholic Church and the persecution of Supernaturals, or those suspected to be one.”

Stiles nodded, a but sad about the knowledge that had gone lost, but also proud that Hava had chosen to do this with him. That he was special enough that she wanted to do this with him.

He smiled as he heard her voice in his head, _“You are worth it, Little Spark, that, and so much more.”_

Enjoying his meal with Deucalion, Kali and Ennis, they made use of the situation to get caught up with each other’s life. With the Alpha’s agreeing they should make a trip to Beacon Hills soon; the McCall pack was a huge security risk from the sound of it.

Several others in the diner came by when they left, to thank him person, for what he had done for them, their family or the community in general.

He thanked all of them, even if it made him blush, all this attention.

Making their way back to the counsel headquarters, Deucalion assured him that he would find the addresses of the diners on the counsel website after he got his log in.

Once there, they went through his paperwork with Lisa, and was he given his badge, which was just a card charmed by the head mage, which led people know he was indeed connection to the counsel, and was approved by them.

His international passport was also ready, it even had a photo of him, and his fingerprints, on it, without him even having given them. He had told them this might be dangerous, because if someone with malicious intent ever found that spell, he or she, or they, would be able to commit a crime without having to be worried about their fingerprints.

This has Lisa making a note of that, to give to higher up, because one could never know.

Putting everything in his notebook and installing the app for the counsel on his phone, logging in for the same thing, he wondered if an app could be made for the forum. Lisa promised to look into it, with their tech company.

After finally saying goodbye and promising to come in if he was ever close, the same thing had been promised to the Alpha pack and Eladithas, it was closing in on 5 PM, meaning it would be 7 before he was home.

Sending a text to his dad to let him know, the man texted back that he would order food to be delivered some time after 7 PM, so they could eat together, as Noah’s free day was tomorrow and he planned to spend it with Stiles as the last full day they’d have before his son started his adventure.

With a smile, Stiles got into his jeep and started the journey home.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Bet you weren’t expecting that as I usually don’t upload on weekends, and unless you read the recent reviews, or you are part of my Discord Channel, you wouldn’t know I was planning to. But today is my birthday (yay, 28 as of today – the 3rd of January).  
> Enjoy the reading and let me know what you think of it! :D

Once home they enjoyed the Chinese his dad had ordered. Stiles in between bites told his dad of what had happened, as well as what was expected from him now that he accepted the freelance gig from the counsel.

Together with what he found out from Deucalion, Kali and Ennis, as well as from the diner, it seemed that what had happened to him was something that had only happened 3 times before in history, making Stiles feel even more special Hava had chosen to do this with him.

Noah chuckled, “your mother and I had always known you were meant for great things Stiles, I know Claudia put a small blockage on your spark because even as a toddler you were very quickly with your runes, as well as levitating stuff to you.

We couldn’t let anyone know, so we made the choice to block it, partly, for a few years, so that you could learn from Claudia about how to use it, as well as the rules the supernatural community lives by. In the end you had to learn all that on your own, and you did a great job at it. This is, in my opinion, your reward for that. You did so much good, son, something had to be done for you because of that.”

Stiles smiled at his dad, “you really mean that, daddio?”

Noah nodded, “with all my heart, you’re a wonderful person, Stiles, and an even better son, I don’t think a lot of other kids would take up the housework after their mom died and their dad didn’t have the energy to do so. Or to start their dad, or their parent in general, on a diet, because their cholesterol scores on their medical exam weren’t great.”

Stiles looked away, how long had it been since someone praised him for the things he did, he knew it was quite some time, most likely from when the Pack was still in Beacon Hills, so some years ago. So, to hear his dad saying all of this, made this even more special.

His dad was his rock, and he had feared he had hurt their relationship too much after everything that had happened, but it seemed he was wrong in that assumption.

Noah smiled softly at his son, putting his food down, to hug his child to his chest, “I am so very sorry I haven’t been here in the way you needed me these last years. I promise to do better now, even if you won’t be living under my roof anymore, you will always stay my son, no matter what.”

Stiles hugged his dad back, after putting his food down, “you don’t know how happy I am to hear those words, dad, I was just so scared I had damaged our relationship beyond repair and I don’t know if I were to be able to live with that.”

Running his hand through his son’s hair, Noah sighed, “I don’t think you could ever damage our relationship too much, son, you do too much for me and I know it. It might put a strain on it for a while, but nothing could ever break what we have.”

Stiles nodded against his dad’s chest, trying to believe what it was that his dad said.

_“He means every word he says, Little Spark, concentrate on his, you should be able to feel something from him.”_

Stiles did as Hava said and concentrated on his dad, feeling an overwhelming love pouring from the man, as well as something akin to proudness and awe at what he was able to accomplish in his life.

“I feel it, love, proudness and awe.”

_“positive emotions always feel more strongly because they have such a positive impact also on you. Negative emotions will influence you in that way too, but only if you let it. But coming from this, you can feel what people mean with what they are saying. A lie for example will leave a sour taste in your mouth, while a partial truth will be more of a taste which you cannot place._

_Using this you can also sense what the person in front of you is. For example, your dad will have an earthy feel to him, as he us just a human, and not a creature. I’ll help you make a list of how to differentiate between different species. Maybe on the road, where we can put it to the test.”_

Stiles nodded, sending his thanks to Hava for what she told him, this would come in handy for him in the future, as he would go on the road without a wolf lie detector, so having one at hand himself, might just make it all easier.

Noah hummed, feeling Stiles tense, before his son relaxed in his arms, making their hug that more comfortable, like the hugs they used to have as a family, back when Claudia had still been alive.

Once their food was eaten and they were sitting in the couch, Noah grinned, “how about we get an early night and get up tomorrow to spend the whole day together, just like the old times. I have a free day anyway, and I already told everyone at the station that you got a job at some bog international company and would leave at the end of the week, so unless a world ending situation I shouldn’t be paged.”

Stiles grinned, “I’d like that. Just like the old days.”

Noah grinned, “we can just do whatever we want to do, before you leave.”

Stiles nodded, “I do plan on coming by the station to say goodbye to everyone there. After all those people did become my family after mom. And I wouldn’t dare to leave without saying goodbye.”

Noah smiled, “I’m sure they would all love that, to wish you well and congratulate you on the job you landed.”

Not saying anything, but hugging his dad to his once more, Stiles stood and went to his bedroom, “I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, dad.”

Their day together was over far to soon, as far as either Stilinski men were concerned. But they enjoyed just not doing anything, being couch potatoes the whole day and enjoying being close.

That evening they went and had dinner at the Diner again, where more than one person came by the wish him well on this new chapter in his life. He knew between the guests at the diner, as well as his former school, and the police station most of the people in Beacon Hills would know he would be leaving soon.

The only thing that bothered him about that was Scott and Deaton, but with Stiles pressing charges, there had been a contact restriction issued for Scott, so the alpha couldn’t seek him out. Deaton was another matter, but the man wasn’t one to get his hands dirty, so Stiles wasn’t all that on guard, as he wouldn’t turn up.

Today, Thursday, would be his last full day in Beacon Hills, he’s already called ahead to the emissary in the Santos pack, that he wanted to visit his (former) pack mates, for which the man, one Enrique had almost fallen over himself knowing the one and only red would be coming to his pack.

Packing and sorting trough his stuff, he loaded it into the car as he went, smiling somewhat sadly as he closed his trunk, this was it, it also felt so definitive, not that he minded that part, but part of him was having trouble with the thought of leaving his dad behind.

He had made a list of all the things he had taken with him, starting with his clothes, personal items and personal hygiene things in the trunk. He had a crisis pack packed in the backpack he had brought that day in the mall. It was indeed enlarged because of the runes he had sewn into the lining.

His laptop was laying next to him in the passenger side, as well as a small bag with his wallet, the counsel badge, and his passport.

He had also packed a bag of some snacks for those moments he couldn’t just stop besides the road. He also made sure to take a few litres of water with him, as well as his favourite brand of coffee.

On the backseat was his transport box, a tent he had gotten from Couch Finstock and a sleeping bag, and air mattress his dad had brought him yesterday, giving him a plan C, if there was no settlement or a safehouse nearby.

He was all packed and ready for this journey. His business cards were ordered, with his dad promising to send them through the moment they arrived. As well as any mail he received, as Stiles domicile would still be in Beacon Hills.

He had a post box address Deucalion used to send some cards too, and he knew Lisa had hinted at wanting some of those cards, to give to the people they were sending him to. So, he planned on sending a box to both of them. He could leave some with people he helped, for them to give to others that they met, or knew needed the help.

His last night in the house he had grown up in, would be very strange, especially with the bare room he would be spending his last night in. All his possessions were packed away in his jeep, with some runes added to the outside, at the door handle so only he could open it, and no one could get into the jeep and steal from him.

Turning away from the front door, he planned on waiting for his dad to get home before starting dinner, wanting to cook one last meal before he left. His dad would never refuse a home cooked meal, so he was glad to do it his last night in Beacon Hills.

When the door opened, he looked up expecting to see his dad there. What he saw instead was Scott, who was stupid enough to violate the no contact restriction he was issued.

Sneering at the alpha standing in his home, Stiles made sure to dial his dad on his phone behind his back – so to be sure that someone would hear what McCall had to say to him. It also helped that he had an app on his phone which recorded everything that was being said on the phone call.

“Get the fuck out, McCall, unless you want to do time for violating a contract restriction.”

Scoff huffed, “see, this is why you need to see Deaton, Stiles, he thinks you’re possessed, and he can help you get rid of it. And with the way you’re acting these last weeks I think he’s right! It’ll be over soon!”

Stiles scoffed, “I’m not going anywhere near Deaton, I am not part of your group of friends Scott, so last warning, leave!”

When the dump idiot didn’t and even closed in on Stiles, most likely to drag him, forcefully to Deaton, his dad and a few deputies entered the house, guns drawn.

“Scott McCall, you’re arrested for violating your contact restriction. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you.”

When his dad hugged him close as Scott was being taken away, the other boy raging that something was wrong with Stiles, as he was acting very strange, more than one deputy looked at the man in cuffs as if he was nuts.

Those not in the known got what the Sheriff had said with the man’s obsession with his son, after their falling out. They would also let the court know that they agreed with the contact restriction, but seeing as the man hadn’t kept to it, he would be going to court for stalking, as well as the assault charges from before.

Stiles took a deep breath, before hugging his dad one more time and starting dinner. He also pressed end call and send the MP4 file to his dad’s work mail, to be used in the court case against Scott. Maybe this would teach him that everything he did had consequences.

“I’ll be back in 20 minutes, I look forward to the meal you’ll prepare, see you soon, son.”

While it wasn’t the last day in Beacon Hills he had wanted, Stiles was confident he could still make it a great evening, and start his new adventure tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning, Stiles and his dad had a very big hug, while Stiles looked forward to getting out of Beacon Hills, he didn’t like leaving his dad behind, even if doing so would be better for him on the long run. After all, he wanted to explore, and what better way to do so than under contract with one of the largest companies around.

Even if no one knew it was the counsel, the fact that he had scored a job with a big multinational, who paid for his schooling on top of hiring him, was like a dream come through for most people.

So, with one last hug to his dad, and a promise to be careful and to check in every day, Stiles got into his jeep and started driving down south.

He had put his new phone number on the forum again, as well as the notification that he would be leaving him hometown today. He did however also let everyone know that he was planning to visit some friends first. Said friends know he was coming, but bad no idea when he would be standing in front of their door.

His first stop was the Santos pack in Brazil, having texted Enrique, their emissary, that he planned on arriving within 4 days, unless of course the counsel sent a case his way, or he was called by someone in the neighbourhood.

Luckily, none of that happened, meaning he made his way to brazil in no time flat. Most people would think him crazy for doing the journey by car, but he wanted to take his jeep with him wherever he went. The exception would be everywhere off the continents of North and South America, but as long as he could, he would drive everywhere.

Meeting with Enrique was easier as planned, the moment he drove into town, he noticed that 80% of the people around him were Supernaturals, giving him the impression that the Santos pack took in more than only Weres, which would make this a great experience for him.

_“Someone is watching us, on your 3 o’clock.”_

Turning to the side, he did indeed see a man looking at him, his black hair streaked with grey, but a friendly smile on his face. He also felt magical, but Stiles couldn’t place it.

_“He’s a warlock, they are more spell and ritual based, instead of potions or moon phases.”_

Humming at what Hava told him, he smiled and approached the man, “am I to understand you’re Enrique?”

The man nodded, “sì, and you are Red, or Stiles.”

Stiles nodded, already seeing more than one person looking at him at the mention of his name. He had to get used to that.

“I am.”

Enrique nodded again, “I know the Hales will be very glad to see you again. Only Peter is home at this moment. With the others either in school, or in Derek’s case at work. None of them know of your visit, so it should be a surprise.”

Gesturing Enrique to lead, they climbed back into the jeep, from where Stiles let himself be guided towards the pack house. Once they arrived, there was a person waiting for them.

“Ah, Alpha is waiting for us, she was most interested to be meeting with you.”

Stiles nodded, knowing from research that the Alpha was Maria Santos, a 40-something woman who was the 5th alpha of the Santos line. They had a longstanding relationship with the Hales, which made sense for Cora to run towards them when she didn’t know what to do.

Enrique got out and pressed a kiss to his alpha’s cheek, “sister, may I introduce Red, or Stiles Stilinski, I am afraid I cannot pronounce his first name. Stiles, meet my sister, and Alpha, Maria Santos.”

Stiles nodded, “Alpha Santos, thank you for having me.”

Maria shook her head, before saying in an accented voice, “if anything it is an honour to have you, senior. You have done so much for the community, and I have heard a lot of positive things from your packmates.”

Stiles grinned, but bowed anyway, he didn’t expect this, but he was happy to be here.

“Enrique will show you to the house the Hales use, you are most welcome to stay there, or to join us at the main house.”

Stiles nodded, “I think I’ll go and say hi first, before deciding where I am going to be staying, if that’s alright for you.”

Maria nodded, before mentioning Enrique to lead him to the Hale house.

Grinning, Enrique guided him to one of the newer build houses, it seemed rather large, but than again it did need at least 3 bedrooms, and probably had more for when Erica and Boyd spend the night. The Santos emissary knocked on the door, waiting until he could hear footsteps before taking a step aside.

Peter opened the door, his nose in a book, “Enrique, what is it, I’m quite busy…”

As he looked up, his eyes were drawn to the person standing next to the emissary.

“Stiles.”

“Hi Peter, eum… surprise.”

The eldest Hale wolf put his book aside before hugging Stiles to him, his cheek rubbing against Stiles’ scenting him after being apart of so long. Enjoying the attention, Stiles didn’t say anything, just held on tighter, and waved at Enrique as the other magic user made his way back to the main house.

Peter in the meantime pulled Stiles into the house and onto the couch, cuddling close as they just sat in silence, enjoying this interaction after not getting it for so long.

Peter finally spoke, “I missed this, we all missed this. The pups are going to freak out once they smell you here.”

Stiles shrugged, “I’m planning on staying a few days, if that’s alright. I can go stay in the main house if you wouldn’t have room.”

Peter snorted, “Stiles, please, you’ll always have a place here. There’s a guest room with your name on it. We just have to change the sheets and it’s all yours.”

Stiles beamed, “great, I can go do that right now.”

Peter chuckled, “let’s wait until the others get home, Derek should be home soon, he always goes and gets the teens from school after work, as a little bonding thing.”

Stiles just hummed, leaning against the older man, and enjoying the closeness they had right now, the closeness he had missed these recent years.

10 minutes later, Stiles had dozed off for a bit, with Peter’s warmth still coming from his side, when the front door was opened.

“Uncle Peter, I…”

Sitting up, Stiles could only grin as the other Hales, or honorary Hales entered the room. Their eyes widening as they took him in, sitting there on their couch.

“Stiles!”

Withing moments he was buried under a puppy pile, all of them hugging him, scenting him in the process and trying to talk all over each other.

“How, not so fast, I’ll be here for a few more days, so don’t worry.”

As everyone climbed off of him, he told his story of what had happened with Scott, the Nemeton, the counsel and the alpha pack. Leaving all of them speechless.

Peter, ever the articulate one, “so you’re the new guardian of the Nemeton?”

Stiles nodded, showing of his wrist with Hava hanging on it.

“By the moon, a case where the Nemeton went with its guardian hasn’t happened since the middle ages.”

Stiles nodded, “I know, but Hava and I didn’t want to stay in Beacon Hills, so we decided to leave and make it an adventure. The proposition of the counsel was too great to turn down, and I get to do what I love doing. I just had to stop by all of my pack members first. But if any of you tell Lydia or Allison I’m coming, I’m not talking to you anymore.”

All of them promised to not say anything to the other members of their pack, separated as they were. For now, just happy to have Stiles close to them.

That evening happened to be pack dinner, so Stiles accompanied the Hales to the main house, both to tell Maria and Enrique he’d stay with the Hales, and to get to know the Santos pack, now that he had the chance to do so.

He got a lot of stares from the people that hadn’t been there when he had arrived, but more than one person had a neighbour who brought them up to speed on just who he was, going by the looks of awe he got after they had something whispered into their ears.

The Hales, as well as Erica and Boyd had to smile, whispering the parts of conversations they heard to him. Most of them pertained to him being Red, and ‘the Red’ visiting their pack.

Taking a seat rather close to the table where Maria and Enrique were seated, the Alpha stood, smiling at everyone in her pack.

“Welcome all, to another pack night. As you already saw, we have a special guest with us tonight. After so many stories from the Hale family, as well as our own experiences with his forum, it does me great pleasure to introduce you all to Mei… Mie… Stiles Stilinski, also known as Red.”

A loud cheer went through the hall, lots of people trying to catch a glimpse of him, as well as those closest to them, leaning towards them to thank him and his idea.

Thanking those that approached, Stiles still tried to wave it away, that it wasn’t that big of a deal, even if he had already noticed, with the diner, the Counsel and the Alpha Pack, that it was quite a big deal in the community. He had given them a way to communicate, over the borders of countries even, to find someone like them, or to get to information they normally wouldn’t be able to access.

Maria and her table started eating first, with the other soon following. On every table there was at least one dish, so if you wanted something else you needed to go to another table, in all it made for a very interesting evening, where Stiles met a lot of people, with Hava whispering to him what they were when he didn’t recognize it.

A lot of those people came to their table after the meal to thank him once again, or just to speak with him. When he asked Peter after why, the eldest Hale smiled.

“You have to know, Sweetheart, that you have gotten quite the reputation, and I have to confess that we helped with that. But in general, you always deliver the information needed, well within the deadline, and more importantly, it’s always accurate. The community appreciates these things.”

The other Hales nodded, Derek adding, “add to that the forum idea, and the newsletter from the counsel that you began working for them, it adds credibility to your already stellar reputation. Between that, and our endorsement, as well as the Alpha Pack’s, a lot of people will be glad to see you coming.”

Stiles swallowed thickly, “I never saw it like that, I just wanted to help, and this was before I knew I was a spark, or that I would become a guardian, I had always been the human, but I felt I needed to do something, and this was me doing something. I never expected the recognition I got for it.”

Erica smiled, “that’s exactly why you get it anyway, batman, you do all of this because you like doing it, not for the money, or the recognition, and especially not to get a higher standing. You’re just you, and people are learning to appreciate it.”

Stiles blushed and ducked his head, the Hales laughing, all happy to have the quirky spark on their side once more. It had really been way too long and leaving him had been one of the hardest things any of them had done. But for their own health, they needed to go.

Stiles had never blamed them either, knowing they needed to go, needed to experience pack again, for the Hales especially, Erica and Boyd just took the chance to get away from Beacon Hills, Scott and the last monster of the week.

Entering the Hale house that evening, they put all the matrasses on the ground in the living room and had one great sleepover, just like they had done in the past. Enjoying the contact with each other and basking in the closeness to their pack members.

As Stiles drifted to sleep, he was smiling, he had really missed this, and missed them.


	12. Chapter 12

The first night at the Santos pack, all the matrasses in the house were moved to the living room, so they could all sleep together, like they did in the loft, back when everyone was in Beacon Hills.

Erica even took a picture and put it on their group chat. The others, in London and Paris, respectfully, started texting back as soon as the picture was uploaded. Both Lydia and Allison being played offended that Stiles hadn’t come to them first.

He laughed at that and cuddled up to Erica and Cora, both woman had their heads on his shoulders. The other members of the pack making sure to also touch him, by wrapping an arm around his waist, or using his tights as rests for their head.

They kept talking to fill the others in on what had happened in their lives, when they hadn’t been together. Stiles found that he had missed this, both the closeness to others, as he hadn’t had this with Scott’s pack, as well as just a group of friends they were al comfortable enough with to talk about whatever came to mind.

Sometime after Midnight, they started to drift off, as most of them had school the next day, and with Derek having to go to work. Peter would be home, as he worked from home, giving legal advice to people as he wanted to stay close to his pack, instead of traveling around. He was however a person the counsel contacted on a regular basis and send other Supernaturals his way – for which the forum also helped greatly.

Stiles was one of the last to fall asleep, enjoying the warmth around him, as well as the familiar scents, plus it helped that he had used the trick Hava had shown him, to sense how happy everyone was to see him again.

_“You have a great pack, Little Spark, but they need this stability the Santos pack can give them.”_

“I know that, Hava, and I don’t mind. If they never form their own pack, that’s good too, but for now I just don’t want to bond to a pack other than the Hale pack. Lisa and Deuce have told me how many packs or groups would be honoured to have me as their emissary, but I don’t want to get tied back down.”

_“Which helps as your pack lives in different countries?”_

“Yeah, I know they all need this, and we’ll see what the future brings, but for now, I’m happy with this life I have chosen, even if it still needs to begin. This feels so freeing, and at the same time, I feel so very close to my pack members.”

The leaves of the vine caressed his skin, _“Than I am glad for you, Little Spark, to know that you are not alone, even if you are scattered around the globe.”_

Stiles grinned, “real pack bonds rise above borders, so I don’t worry.”

Hava giggles in his mind, but the feeling he got from her was one where she agreed with that statement. It made him smile too, he liked this bond he had with the Nemeton, and the way she helped him learn more about his spark, about their bond, and the members of the community worldwide.

When he drifted off, he remembered the text he had send to his dad, telling him he had safety arrived at the Santos pack, and he had greetings from Derek, Cora, Peter, Erica, and Boyd.

He had laughed as his dad send him back a picture of his dinner, which had been mashed potatoes pees and some kind of roast, the table beneath it, letting him know that he was eating that in the diner. And as Agnes had promised, it wasn’t something smothered in grease.

The next day the teens didn’t want to go to school, fearing Stiles would disappear on them. The spark had laughed, and promised to leave the earliest on Sunday, as it was Wednesday today, that left 4 days at least, where they could spend it with him.

With some grumbling, they all joined the other teens, and children from the pack into going to a school in the next town over. With so many Supernaturals attending, both the elementary, middle, and high school principal, and some of the teachers were up to date, and knew what to do should anything happen.

With one last hug, Derek also left for his work, as a technical drawer for a construction company, also a town over. He came by the school as he went home, which is why he went and got the teens at the end of the day.

Taking the time to get up, Stiles made sure to drink some coffee, before he looked over his supplies, knowing he needed to either bake some things to eat on the road, or to buy some things in the local supermarket.

The moment Peter found out; he knew he would be baking. One wouldn’t guess from seeing Peter, but the man had a giant sweet tooth, and loved everything that Stiles baked. After not seeing them for so long, and at Peter’s look, he said he wouldn’t mind.

The eldest Hale wolf had smirked, before leading him towards the supermarket, coming along, to be sure he would be the first one to taste the goodness that Stiles would make for them, he even knew Stiles would make extra, just to be sure that he, Peter, had enough to snack on, now that he had to miss that goodness.

In the store, they were stared at quite a bit. With more than one person the approach him, and as in the diner in LA, thank him for what he had done to community, or to them personal, for helping them with something that without his help might have turned out very differently.

One woman approached him, and in rapid Portuguese started to thank him for what he had done for them, bust mostly for her husband. The husband in question had been shot by an arrow by some hunters, but they hadn’t been able to figure out what was on it, and as such couldn’t treat the wound.

His research had helped in them finding what had been on the arrow, and what they needed to do to threat it, they had been able to save the leg too, as a nasty infection had started to set in.

Peter luckily translated fer them, and the woman hugged him close, before she went on her way, leaving Stiles behind in a daze, to find proof of the help he had given, as well as the impact it had on the people in the community. It was one thing the hear from others, but to hear first-hand what he had done, had an even greater impact on him.

Turning to Peter, he asked, “I didn’t know you spoke Portuguese?”

Peter shrugged, “I kind of had to, with where we live. Not all of the pack speaks English. Plus, it helps with the clients I get from the counsel. Between my English, Spanish and Portuguese, a lot more people don’t need a translator to talk to me.”

Stiles hummed, before he had to think about the design, he had drawn up in the car on the way there.

“Hey Peter, is there by chance, a tattoo parlour nearby?”

Peter nodded, “yeah, Enrique does it in his spare time, I’m sure he can put some ink on you, if you’d like to.”

Stiles grinned, “great, we can go after we finish getting our groceries and dropping them off at the house.”

Peter smiled, before pushing their cart forward again, keeping an eye out on what Stiles put in there, so far, he could count enough chocolate to make a chocolate cake, and brownies, and enough flour to make at least one more cake, and maybe some cupcakes.

“Sweetheart, what are you planning on making?”

Stiles grinned, “brownies, apple cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate cookies and lemon cookies. And Maybe a pie to bring to Enrique and Alpha Santos.”

As they passed the vegetables and fruit, Stiles picked out some apples and lemons, while Peter put a smallish pumpkin in the cart.

At Stiles’ look at that, Peter just grinned, “I have it on good authority that Maria and Enrique love a good pumpkin pie, so yeah.”

Stiles just laughed, but nodded, “sure, I can make a pumpkin pie.”

After paying for their groceries, which Peter insisted he do, they went back to the house, to put away their groceries, before Peter led him to a shop on the main street, Enrique looking up as they entered, a light lightening in his eyes.

“Peter, Stiles!”

Stiles grinned, “hi, Enrique, Peter tells me you do ink?”

Enrique nodded, “I loved art since I was a child, so this seemed like a possible career choice. It helps that I’m a warlock, to put ink on those of us who heal faster, or who need a special treatment, so their ink stays in.”

Stiles grinned, “really, some of us need a special treatment? Could you tell me about it?”

Enrique shrugged, “sure, I’d love to. But I think you need some ink for yourself today?”

Stiles nodded and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.

“I drew this in the days on the road from Beacon Hills, to here, to help me if I can’t find a translator, or if I have an emergency case, where I won’t have time to get a translator.”

Enrique took the paper and looked it over, Peter moving closer to see what Stiles had drawn upon it, looking at the runes on there, as well as the way they were hanging together. Both Peter and Enrique’s eyebrows climbed higher on their forehead.

“This is… a translator sequence.”

Stiles nodded, “yeah, I can activate it with my spark, and believe which language I need to translate, both is speaking, and in hearing.”

Enrique gaped, “but… how do you get the knowledge for the languages.”

Hava raised herself up, _“From the earth, and from me, everything is connected on this planet, Warlock, as such it is not that hard to ask Her if she can help us with this. I do not see a problem with that, and we already tested it once, just drawn on – but it would be easier for the Little Spark to have it as a tattoo in case he doesn’t have time to draw it on.”_

Enrique looked at the vine on Stiles wrist, before he gaped at the sequence again, “you’re a Nemeton.”

Hava nodded, “the Beacon Hills Nemeton.”

Enrique swallowed, in awe at the way this Spark and the Nemeton worked together, he was even more magnificent than they all thought when they met online. To see him here, and to see what he could do, made him believe the Hales when they said Stiles was the driving force behind their pack, as well as their strongest link.

“I can do this, maybe this afternoon? I have a big appointment coming in, in the next 10 minutes.”

Stiles nodded, “sure! At what time?”

Enrique checked him agenda, “3 PM? Shouldn’t take more than an hour, so you’ll be home in time for the rest of the Hales to get back.”

Peter grinned, while Stiles just nodded and made the appointment. When he wanted to give a deposit however, Enrique shook his head, “you don’t need to pay, you’ve done so much, and will most likely do more for out Pack, Red, we couldn’t possibly ask you to pay.”

Frowning, Stiles nodded, making a mental note to make an anonymous donation to the pack as soon as he was in Paris – they would find out that he found a way to give others what he wanted to give.

Walking back to the house, they got waved at by multiple people, Peter was even stopped by one of the younger mothers, who had a question she needed legal advice for. Of course, he gave it without question, with Stiles smiling softly at the exchange.

Once back at the home, Stiles made sure to make the pie first, so he could bring it with him to his appointment. When it stood in the oven, he started making the baters of the other sweet goodies, having to slap Peter’s hand away multiple times as the older wolf tried to get a taste. It made his laugh and think of other times in the loft.


	13. Chapter 13

After baking and making sure to put some away for him to take away with him when he left in a few days, he made a fresh hold box out of some Tupperware. Really runes were great for a number of things, as this had proven.

Peter, as expected, had taken one of each to taste. With the exception of the pumpkin pie, which Stiles had wrapped to take with him when he went for his appointment with Enrique. He hoped both the Santos Alpha and emissary were happy with the pie he would bring them.

Peter assured them they’d be over the moon – pun not intended – at having pumpkin pie, freshly made at that.

Smiling at the eldest Hale wolf, Stiles looked at the clock, noticing it was closing in on 3 PM, which had him all giddy. He looked forward to this first piece of ink, especially since he had the feeling this wouldn’t be the last one.

_“In olden times, ink or scaring was seen as your life story – what you had accomplished or achieved in your life. Some of my first guardians were full of them, to show me, but also show the world what a strong creature they were._

_Even if most humans don’t think like that, a huge part of the Supernatural community will see them as accomplishments in your life, little spark.”_

Grinning at what Hava told him, Stiles made it a goal to get more ink, both tattoos that could be used in his craft, or with help from his spark – like this translator rune sequence, but also others he just liked. He was free, he didn’t have to do anything – not really – that he didn’t like. And with his employer being the head of the Supernatural community, he didn’t think he’d have to fear their disapproval of ink on his body.

Smiling, they made their way back through the village that was part of the Santos Pack, waving at several people once more before walking into the tattoo shop.

It would be their luck, that Maria was also there, conversing with her brother.

At the smell of the pumpkin pie, Maria turned towards them.

“Is that… Pumpkin pie?”

Stiles nodded, “I had a bake fever, and wanted to make something for you both. Peter let me know you both like pumpkin pie, so I hope that’s alright?”

Enrique snorted, which had Maria glaring at her brother, “if it’s any good, she might not let you go, Red. We both love a good pumpkin pie, but neither of us are good bakers.”

Stiles grinned, with Peter laughing, “I don’t think they let you leave then, sweetheart, I know how great your baking is, and I have a problem with letting you go.”

Stiles shrugged, “I don’t want to settle down yet. Not when I have this opportunity, I want to see the world and learn about our community, and most importantly about myself.”

Peter held up his hands, with Enrique and Maria following, “it was more of a joke, Stiles, we wouldn’t keep you here against your will. Although if the pie is as good as Peter says it is, we wouldn’t say no to more of that goodness, the next time you visit.”

Stiles blushed and looked down, “I’m sorry, it’s just… the last Alpha I thought I had didn’t want me to leave, because the Darach of Beacon Hills didn’t like me, or my mother, bonding with the Nemeton. So, I’m a bit quick to jump on my defence when there’s talk of keeping me some where I don’t want to stay.”

Peter put an arm over his shoulder, “sorry Mischief, I should have remembered that. I know we didn’t mean anything by it.”

Turning to hug Peter, Stiles nodded against his shoulder, “I know that… it’s just a sensitive subject.”

Maria and Enrique looked at Peter, before looking at each other, angry on Stiles’ behalf that there had been someone like that in his life, especially since this was Red, the Red, who had done so much for the community, and who willingly wanted to do so much more.

As Stiles turned to face Maria and Enrique again, he wiped a tear away from his face. He knew that all that had happened had been largely Deaton and Scott’s fault. But Scott had been his best friend for the better part of his life, so thinking about what they had once upon a time hurt.

Enrique wanting to start another subject, held up the rune sequence Stiles had drawn.

“You ready for this?”

Stiles grinned, and nodded, “totally!”

Enrique grinned, “any idea where you want it?”

Stiles nodded, “when I drew it on, I did so just below my ear, but it made it a bit hard to understand everything. So, I was thinking to have it start just below my ear and stretch all the way towards where my vocal cords should be, so I can both hear what is spoken, and speak back in that language.”

Humming Enrique transferred the sequence to paper that would make it easier to transfer it to the skin. As he had done that, he put it behind Stiles ear and made it go down until where he knew most vocal cords were.

“Like this?”

Stiles got up and looked into the mirror he was handed, tilting his head a few times, and feeling where he though his vocal cords were.

Nodding, he handed the mirror back to Enrique.

“Perfect!”

Grinning, Enrique went to prepare his station, getting new needles out after he disinfected his station. Laying the needles down, he got out ink and prepared his tattoo gun.

Nodding, he turned to Stiles, “alright, let’s get you installed! Do you want to sit up, or lay down?”

Stiles though about it for a moment, “laying down, I think.”

Smiling, Enrique made a few adjustments to the chair, making it more of a cot shape, instead of a chair. He had Stiles lay on it, on his side, back to him so he could get to the tattoo spot all the better.

“You ready?”

As Stiles held up a thumb, Enrique started up his tattoo gun and dipped the tip in the black ink.

“Alright, here we go.”

When the other Hales came home, they smelt something different on Stiles, it was a little bit of pain, and a drop of blood, making them all worry and hurry inside, thinking their friend and packmate had been hurt.

So, to find him sitting it the living room, with several baked good around him, with only a bandage on his neck, didn’t make any sense to them.

“Relax, puppies, I just got a tattoo, nothing to worry about!”

This of course had them all asking to see it. Making Stiles laugh, but take the bandage off, Enrique had told him he could do as soon as he wanted. He just had to dress it again before he went to bed for a few days – as well as rub a salve on it.

All the pups crowded around him to see whet he had gotten, with Derek and Cora most impressed, as he had at least a mediocre knowledge of runes. Both of them told Erica and Boyd of what the tattoo actually way, making them also very impressed with what Stiles had learned already.

As Stiles’ phone chimed again, he looked at it and had to smile.

“That’s a lot of times you’ve had incoming messages, sweetheart.”

Stiles nodded, “I’ve been getting them since I left Beacon Hills, most of those are from packs, or groups, or people, I’ve helped before. Who texted their address and asked for me to come visit if I’m ever close by. Some others just took the opportunity to thank me in person – kind of – now that I put a phone number of the forum. While some others send me little bits of information they found – or think I might find useful.

Up until now no one had called on me, and the only ‘job’ I’ve had was a newly formed pack who wanted a crash course in pack ethics and that manual I wrote out on learning to keep your wolf under control. I send it to them, as they paid quite a lot for it.”

Peter hummed, “any one close by, we can meet up with?”

Stiles shook his head, “no, sadly no, or at least not right now. I have a few groups on the way back to LAX which I wanted to stop by at, especially when I still have time to buy my plane ticket.”

This had the atmosphere changing, making Stiles snort, “don’t be like that, I’ll be here until Sunday – so don’t worry.”

This brightened up the room, much to his joy.

“I made sure to bring enough from the store, if you’re all up for some homemade Stilinski food.”

As he suspected, no one minded, and within a few minutes, he was in the kitchen, making food for his family, he liked being here, and wouldn’t want to go back to what it was before. Even if he missed them and would miss them on the road. But then again, that’s where messenger, WhatsApp and facetime came in.

Just over a week later, Stiles was standing on LAX, having brought a ticket that morning, to fly to Paris in the afternoon.

The last few days at the Santos pack were amazing, but he knew he had to leave, which his pack let him. Even if the goodbye had been teary.

On the way to LAX, he had indeed stopped at a few of the people he had helped before. All of them more than happy to see him, meet in person, and to take this opportunity to thank him in person – mostly with a great meal and a place to sleep for the night.

He let them all know he wouldn’t be staying long, but that he planned to stop by as often as he was close by, and if they ever had an issue, they knew how to reach him.

Now, standing here in LAX, he had parked his jeep in the parking reserved for the Counsel, which was great, so he didn’t need to pay a small fortune to stall his jeep in the airport. The keys he took with him, just to be sure, as he wouldn’t want anyone driving his jeep without him knowing.

Getting through security went like a charm, with a few people gaping at him at seeing the names of his passport, most likely Supernaturals then. He smiled at them as he passed, which they returned. In the boarding hall he got himself some lunch, as he still has to wait about 2 hours before boarding.

In Paris, Chris was pulled aside by his mother, a grin on her face.

“Mon fils, could you go and pick up someone for the airport tomorrow?”

Chris nodded, “sure Maman, who will I be picking up?”

Claudette Argent just smiled mysteriously at her son, “you will recognize them, when they arrive. I got a message that they should be arriving at 11 AM, tomorrow.”

Chris just sighed, but nodded, “alright, Maman, I’ll go and get this person from the airport.”

Claudette just pressed a kiss to her son’s cheek before taking out her phone and texting the person coming to visit that Chris would come and pick him up when he arrived.

The text she received was one that made her look all the more forward to getting to meet the young man het family had told her so much about. Mieczyslaw Stilinski, or Red, as he was known by in the Supernatural Community. She wasn’t the only one, most of the delegates of the Paris branch of the Counsel, were looking forward to talking and meeting with this young man.

Grinning as she came by her granddaughter and her boyfriend, she knew without a doubt that they too would be happy to see their friend again. She couldn’t wait until tomorrow, it would become a great day!


	14. Chapter 14

The plane ride luckily went by smoothly, which Stiles had to confess he was nervous about, after all he hadn’t flown before now. One more experience under his belt, even if he enjoyed driving his jeep more than he did flying.

Once the plane touched down in Paris, he had to thank whatever gods out there for asking Peter to help him with booking this flight, as the werewolf had suggested he take a direct flight, instead of one with stops in between. Now, after 10 hours on the plane, Stiles was more than glad he could get off, and not have to get on another one.

Checking his phone again, he looked over the text he had gotten from Mrs. Argent, the matriarch, as well as his contact person within the counsel had confirmed someone would be there to pick him up.

Collecting his luggage from the belt it got on, he made his way towards the lounge, hoping to see the person coming to collect him.

At first, he didn’t see anyone holding up a sign with his name, or one of his names on it, frowning he started looking at the people standing there. A grin etching its way on his face as he noticed the man standing a bit further away.

He shook his head it would seem that Claudette Argent had a sense of humour, as Chris didn’t seem the be knowing who he was picking up, from the way the man was looking around everywhere.

_“He is of the Argent clan?”_

“Yes, he is. He lived in Beacon Hills too, until a couple of years ago, when he left to make sure his daughter would live to adulthood. And party, as far as I know, so Allison could get the training she needed to get to become the next matriarch.”

He could feel Hava humming in his mind, letting him know she understood.

Closing in on the man, Stiles wrapped his arms around him when he was looking away, as Chris’ eyes zoned in on him, they went wide, before warming up considerably.

“I should have known, it was you I was picking up, when Maman was being all mysterious.”

Stiles just grinned, “if it makes you feel better, I haven’t told anyone I was coming, only your mom. Did the same thing with the Hales, only told the emissary of the Santos pack, and just appeared in front of their door one day.”

Chris chuckled, “I can just imagine their faces at that.”

Stiles laughed, “Peter confined me to the couch until the pups came home.”

Making their way outside, Chris led Stiles to a SUV, putting his bags in the trunk, he got into the passenger’s seat, looking around the moment Chris pulled out of the parking lot.

“I heard some interesting things from Ally and Isaac, about what you’re doing right now.”

Stiles nodded, “I got an offer from the counsel to do what I love doing on their paycheck. Couldn’t say no to that.”

Chris nodded, “I can understand that I know we as the Argent Family, could afford to much because of the standing we had with the counsel. After the whole thing with Gerard and Kate, I had to prove I wasn’t like them, as they had tarnished the good name we once held.”

Stiles grimaced, “I can imagine your mother would have killed them herself if she’s had the chance?”

Chris grimaced, but nodded, “she would, she blamed herself for never noticing, and letting my father have too much leeway when he left for America. She feels that if she noticed, things that happened would never have happened, and she would have never married the man to begin with.

He was just looking for an in to get to kill others, a psychopath as they came, Kate was the same. If they hadn’t been Argents, they would have found another minority to rage against, and to kill.”

Stiles shook his head, “I guessed as much when he was willing to torture a teen who hung around with wolves.”

_“I am so sorry, Little Spark, had I been strong enough, I would have protected you.”_

“It’s alright, Hava, you couldn’t help it.”

Chris frowned as he looked at him, “who are you talking to?”

Stiles grinned impishly, before rolling up the sleeve of his shirt, hearing Chris gasp as he laid eyes on the vines around his wrist.

“Is that…?”

“The Nemeton, yeah, I am her guardian now, and she insisted on not wanting to stay in Beacon Hills any more than I wanted to.”

Chris whistled, “that’s something it had been quite some time since a Nemeton choose to leave with their Guardian. Once this comes out, you’ll get a lot more requests coming your way.”

Driving past forest on their way to the Argent mansion, which also dubbed as the Counsel headquarters, Hava suddenly got his attention.

_“Something isn’t right here…”_

Frowning, Stiles turned to Chris, “can we stop?”

Chris frowned, but pulled over, parking on a strip of grass next to road, which luckily wasn’t a highway. Getting out, Stiles could also feel something in the air, as if something were reaching out to him.

Looking both ways, he ran over the road, Chris calling out for him, but he didn’t mind the older man, something wasn’t right in this forest, and he needed to find out what it was.

Jogging through the forest, he let his gut, and Hava’s poking lead him further and further into the trees. That was until a chill crept up his spine, something or someone was watching him.

Creeping further he kept an ear out for any unusual noises, as well as breathing, or whispers letting him know who or what it was that was following it.

Have suddenly stopped him from going any further, leading him into a clearing that seemingly had just popped up, what he saw there made his look up with wide eyes.

A huge tree was standing in the clearing, roots reaching until the treeline, and its leaves seemingly reaching onto the sky and beyond.

“Another Nemeton.”

_“Indeed, young one. I am glad someone heard my call, I fear for the flock of harpies that used to protect me, they started to disappear one after the other a few weeks ago, now it has been days since I saw one of them and I worry they were hurt or worse._

_You have no idea how glad I am to see you, Young Spark.”_

Stiles nodded, “Hava, how do Harpies feel?”

_“They should feel like air, and partly beastly, well bird – as the feel you get when birds fly over.”_

Concentrating, Stiles tried to recall the feeling, hoping he was able to feel out the flock of harpies, as he knew they would never willingly leave an area they had chosen as a nest, so something or someone had to have caught them.

A blink seemed to pop up in his mindscape, opening his eyes, he kept on feeling the spot, more appearing soon after.

“I found them.”

_“You have chosen a very worthy guardian Havardr, I wish you both all the luck. I hope you find my guardian, and her flock, young Spark.”_

Stiles bowed his head, “I will try my utmost best, Sir.”

A chuckle went through the clearing, _“I know you will.”_

Nodding once more, Stiles broke out in a run towards the group of harpies he could still fell in his mind scape, the feeling of them not promising a lot of good. Which was only confirmed as he approached what looked to be an old farmhouse, the noise coming form the inside sounded like a group of very scared birds.

Without thinking, he threw open the doors of the house, and was glad he did so. On the ground, a young girl was being pinned by 3 grown men. The wings on the girl’s back held out by 2 others, all of them holding thongs to clip her wings – which in essence would condemn a harpy to the ground, and with it to death.

The two holding her wings let go and stepped forward, speaking in rapid French, a swipe of his fingers over his tattoo let him hear that they needed to kill him to go back to whatever they were doing.

Looking around he saw other harpies in cages around the barn, luckily none of them seemed to be clipped. Still, the fact that these people had managed to catch an entire flock of harpies, most likely for the black market made him angry.

_“Watch out, little Spark.”_

Dodging the hit one of the hunters swung at him, he kicked the man in his middle – knowing he had broken something from the way the man flopped down and didn’t get up immediately. The other man had gotten a metal pipe and tried to hit him with that – but was quickly knocked out with a nice right hook to his nose.

The other one, who had broken something had gotten up again, and was preparing to attack him again, only for Stiles to also hit him on his nose, the pop that sounded making his suspect he had hit the nose bone up killing the man.

The three other men were looking at him, fear in their eyes, yet not yielding over their position over the girl they had pinned. When he took a step forward, one of them took out a gun and pointed it to him. Without thinking he held out his hands and felt a wave of power leaving him – catapulting the men over to some hooks on the wall. The sounds he heard after letting him know they were at least very injured.

Approaching the girl on the ground, he helped her to sit up.

“Are you alright?”

The girl nodded, before bursting out crying and hugging him. Patting her on the back, he fished out his phone and dialled Chris.

“Stiles, thank god, I couldn’t reach you for over 2 hours. What is going on!?”

Stiles winced, “sorry, the local flock of harpies was abducted by hunters, or black market dealers or something. The Nemeton of this area called out to me, just like Hava did to me before. I just found them; can you track my phone?”

He could hear Chris sighing, “why is it that you can never stay out of trouble. But yeah, leave the line open, I already called for some backup from Maman, we should find you in a couple of minutes and start making our way towards your location.”

Putting his phone down, the call still ongoing, Stiles looked at the girl in his arms, she seemed the have fallen asleep, which he could understand, she looked to be just in her teens, all of this must have been so traumatic for her. Putting her down a little bit away, making sure she was laying comfortable.

He approached the cage with harpies that looked like her the most.

“Her family, I assume?”

The woman at the front nodded, “we are, Spark, can you release?”

Stiles nodded, taking hold of the lock and letting his magic do the rest, for once very happy for things he remembered from his childhood, as well as memories from relatives that started to slot their way into his mind. And of course, things Hava told him, or that he learned on his own.

The moment the lock opened, the family rushed past him, checking on their child/sister, leaving him to release the others, about 30 in total. A grimace came on his face as he saw some of the harpies here who looked to be here for a long time.

“I hope you don’t mind, but the counsel is on route, no doubt with a medic to look you all over.”

The father of the girl he had saved approach, shaking his head, “we do not mind. Thank you, Spark. How did you find us?”

Stiles tilted his head, “your Nemeton called out to me, and my own.”

Lifting the sleeve of his shirt, he showed off Hava, getting a wide eyed look from the male in front of him.

“Guardian.”

Stiles nodded, “indeed, I understood from this Nemeton that you have a guardian in your flock.”

The man nodded, pointing to his only daughter, the girl Stiles had saved, “Freya is Guardian, it is why they wanted to take her wings first.”

Stiles scowled, “I’m no healer, but do you want me to look her over?”

The man nodded, pushing his way through the others, leading Stiles to the girl still out cold.

_“Hold your hands over her, and concentrate on what you want to do – do you want to know what is wrong with her, or do you want to heal…”_

Nodding, Stiles did as Hava said, holding his hands over Freya to look for any injury. He found none, just that she was exhausted. Taking her hand, he transferred some of his energy into her, making her grown and open her eyes.

“You are guardian too?”

Stiles nodded, “I am, your Nemeton called out to me, to let me know something had happened to you, and your flock. I just released them and woke you up. A delegate of the council is on their way here to help.”

Freya nodded, “I kept calling out to Audrhildr for help, and he send us you, thank you.”


	15. Chapter 15

Chris entered the barn, looked around and sighed in relief as he saw Stiles sitting there among the harpies, all of whom had accepted him, both because he, and Hava, had found and saved them. But also, because they had heard of Red, and about all the things he had done before.

He kept the kids entertained and distracted – so the adults could also get over what had happened to all of them, how their whole flock had been taken to be grounded and who knows what would have happened after that.

“I swear, Stiles, why is it that every time this happens, you find a way to get done what needs to be done and get out on top. I always envy that about you.”

Stiles just grinned, “hi Chris, I’m just special that way.”

The Argent just rolled his eyes, a smile on his face, “I know, that’s what I like about you.”

“Do Isaac and Allison know I am here already?”

Chris shook his head, “I was able to call everyone else, leaving Ally and Isaac in school, while we resolve this matter.”

Looking around he saw several of the perpetrators being taken away, they would get medical care at the counsel house before they would get a trial and a verdict for what they did tried to do here today. The few that died were taken away in body bags, to be disposed of by the counsel.

Their family would be informed they were killed as they committed a crime but had not wanted to surrender. Most of them had gotten a background check, none of them were from prominent Hunter families, but from a family who had ties to black market dealers.

Which was another problem, if the Black marker, or part of the black market knew about the Supernatural Community and wanted to start a market in live creatures, or in parts of those creatures could only bring a lot of trouble for all of them.

They would need to question the ones who survived this, to know just how big this was, and who else knows about this. To try and stop it before it became something untraceable.

As the people responsible were being taken away, a team of medics entered, going from one person to the next and making sure they were fine. Several had bruises and some spraining in the wings, and malnourishment. Some of the healers were able to fix part of that with magic, making Stiles look on in awe at what they were doing. Hava meanwhile explained the theory about what was being done.

Stiles added it to his mental list of things he needed to learn, to be better at what he wanted to do. Hava agreed with that, especially with how handy it would be to have healing skills at hand for whatever reason they would need it.

Looking around Chris, Stiles saw several other counsel employees talking to the parents of Freya, most likely asking them what had happened and how they had gotten into that mess. From the way they were both looking around, it was most likely something they hadn’t foreseen, especially not the capture of their whole flock.

With most of the others busy, Stiles went to Freya and took a seat next to her.

“How are you holding up, Freya?”

The girl looked up at him, “Fine, I guess. This is all so strange, and while I am glad you found me with the help of my Nemeton. But I do not understand how they managed to get the whole flock.”

Stiles nodded, “I understand, but I am sure the counsel will find out how they managed to do that. And when they do, they will find out how they managed to find out about us. Find it out until the last human who knows this about us and make sure they get rolled up – they’ll make sure people like that won’t be able to get to you.”

Freya looked down, “if anyone ever wants to try again, can I call you?”

Stiles nodded, “absolutely. Give me your phone and I’ll put my number in it – you can call me whenever you want, even if it’s just to talk about being a Guardian, or the relationship with your Nemeton. Whatever you feel you need to talk about something.”

Freya smiled at him, “thank you, for saving me, and my flock.”

Stiles grinned, “that’s kind of my job, but I love helping people. And I love meeting other people and learning more about this wonderful community we live in.”

Freya beamed up at him, “I would love to tell you things about our flock, or harpies in general.”

Stiles beamed right back, “I’d love that.”

Chris chuckled as he watched them talk, he should have known that Stiles wouldn’t be in the country for more than a couple of hours and already finding someone in need of help. It was almost as if the young man had found his destiny in helping others. For all the comics he likes to read, he probably doesn’t even notice that he’s the real superhero in this world.

He had talked in over with him Mother, and she agreed, based on everything the counsel had on Stiles. The way he put up the forum, with the help of Lydia and Danny, just to help out others while doing what he loved doing – research.

The wonderful fact that there was this young man out there, who loved and wanted to travel, to explore and to discover, and more importantly, to help people made them all believe in the good in the world. And the community needed that after not always having a way to reach out to others, or not knowing how to reach out.

With this forum, that problem had been solved, together with traveling individuals representing the counsel, the safe houses, and diners, they were getting to each and everyone of the Community, which was the first time since the Olden Times.

Smiling, Chris looked at Stiles and knew it was because of this young man, this Spark, and this Guardian.

After Freya’s family had been healed up and given contact information about the counsel safe house in the next city, Stiles and Chris climbed back into the SUV, the man grinning as he pondered about the look on Ally and Isaac’s faces as he went to pick them up at school with Stiles riding along with him.

Turning to Stiles, he explained, “I promised Ally I’d go and pick her up from school today, Isaac too, want to come with me and surprise them.”

Stiles beamed up at them, “are you kidding me, I’d love to!”

Chris laughed, “I knew you would say that. Before I had wanted to get you home so you could meet Maman, before I went and picked them up, surprising them as we came back. Btu with you hearing the call of another Nemeton, finding, and saving a flock of Harpies and supporting their own Guardian – we ran out of time to do that.”

Stiles just smiled, “admit it Chris, you missed this, and you certainly missed me.”

“That I did, now that you say it – but I don’t miss that particular brand of chaos you bring with you everywhere you go.”

Laughing, Stiles said, “but you wouldn’t want it any other way. Especially not after you got to know how awesome I am.”

Chris snorted, “I remember you being something very different then awesome, the first few times we met.”

Stiles snorted, “my awesomeness needed time to grow, alright.”

Chris snorted too, “sure, let’s call it that.”

Stiles grinned, “glad you see it my way. By the way, how is France treating you all?”

While they drove to the high school Allison and Isaac attended, Stiles and Chris talked about a lot of things; how being away from Beacon Hills treated them, how nice it was to be with his mother again, how great of a matriarch Allison was going to be soon, how Isaac had finally overcome the trauma his father caused, how Stiles was feeling about leaving Beacon Hills and his father, and how Scott was dealing with all of this.

Stiles just sighed, “I need to tell you all, about Scott and what adds on to that. So, if you don’t mind. I’ll tell you that when we’re back at your place.”

Chris nodded, “this has something to do with Scott picking Deaton as his emissary instead of you, isn’t it? As well as why the Nemeton chose to leave with you – instead of staying rooted where it been standing for eons.”

Stiles nodded again, “it does, all of it in connected, but again, I want to tell all of you – instead of everyone separately.”

Chris hummed, before going silent and pulling into the parking lot in the High school, standing next to his car so Allison and Isaac couldn’t see into the vehicle, and see Stiles waiting there for them.

Time seemed to go by slowly, when suddenly the bell rang, signalling the end of the school day – kids of all ages coming outside to great their parents, guardians or other people coming to pick them up.

Allison and Isaac were some of the lasts to come out of the school. Chris had explained both of them had the habit of waiting for the crowd to thin, a habit they had kept holding onto after Beacon Hills. Especially with Isaac’s hearing, a too loud environment wasn’t that ideal for a Werewolf to emerge himself in.

Waving at her dad, Allison made her way to the SUV, frowning as Chris didn’t move from where he was standing, only when they were a few steps away did he open the door, revealing the surprise he had for them.

“Stiles!”

Both Isaac and Allison rushed forward as Stiles came out of the car, hugging them both back very tightly. After Brazil, he had noticed just how much he had missed all of them – and going to see all of them was the best decision he ever made. One he wouldn’t regret for the world, it also helped that he could come by whenever he wanted now too – he’d just need to keep up with schoolwork as soon as he picked a college, and a university, he wanted to attend online classes on, and graduate.

“I missed you both, se very much.”

As he spoke, Allison blinked a few times and looked at him.

“Since when do you speak French?”

Stiles grinned, “I don’t…”

Allison tilted her head, with Chris also looking at the Spark with a question in his eyes.

“Yes, you did, you just did.”

Chris nodded, “you also did so to Freya and her family.”

Stiles nodded, before tilting his head so they could see the tattoo behind his ear.

“I developed a matrix that would allow me to speak and understand every language spoken – I wanted to have it, so I wouldn’t need to invest in a translator every time I went somewhere new.”

Chris nodded, “that is smart, and from what I can see, very impressive. Are you looking to sell the idea?”

Stiles shrugged, “I’m working on that part. For now, it is only useful for sparks, as they can believe what ever they need to believe for it to happen. But I haven’t figured out yet how to apply it on others.”

Both Argents and Isaac shrugged, “it’s still very impressive what you did.”

Stiles just grinned impishly as they all got into the car.

“Oh, you have no idea…”

He proceeded to tell all of them what had happened in Beacon Hills, both while they were gone, and what made him leave. He told them about Hava, and the offer he got from the counsel. The hunch he had that Scott would have too much to handle soon, and Deucalion who would visit Beacon Hills.

He told them about Deaton and what the man had done to Hava, and to his mother, and what he most likely wanted to do to him.

With a small voice, he told them about the memories he regained, and the things his mother had told him – before she locked those memories away, about his spark he was rediscovering, and learning about.

The car went quiet after that, no one really knowing what to say about that.


	16. Chapter 16

Finally arriving at the Counsel Safe House, which once upon a time was the Argent ancestral home – but which had been turned into a counsel safe house for the greater region of Paris, to give Supernaturals a way to get in contact with others of their kind, or to get help with a situation the regular police or justice system couldn’t handle.

Claudette Argent, after everything that had happened with Gerard, had seen it as an honour to be the keeper of this Safe House, doing everything she could to make sure every Supernatural in the greater region of Paris knew that there were still Argents around who only wished the best for all the others, instead of going by the way of life Gerard told others the Argent family stood for.

Getting out of the car, Stiles was in awe at the size of the house in front of him, turning to Chris, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Did you grow up is this castle of a mansion?”

Charis laughed, but shook his head, “I grew up mostly on the road, or in one of the smaller houses on the French countryside. Maman just figured this was a good size to convert to a Counsel Safe House, and she was right – it is certainly big enough.”

Stiles nodded, “you can say that again.”

A light laugh made him look back to the mansion, and to the woman who came out of it – she was without a doubt Chris’ mother, she had the same facial structure and the little parts of her hair still holding colour where the same light brown as her son.

Her blue eyes twinkled, “Mieczyslaw, finally we meet. It is a delight to meet you face to face, finally.”

Stiles grinned, before stepping close and kissing both her cheeks as was custom in France, “same here, Mrs. Argent, I can’t tell you how amazing it is to see part of my pack again, and so much happier than they were the last time I saw them.”

Claudette grinned, “Call me Claudette, please, I don’t feel like being Mrs. Argent any longer, not after what my late husband did to the reputation I, and my family, build upon for decades.”

Stiles nodded, “Claudette then, thanks again for the warm welcome, and thank you for letting me stay here.”

Waving a hand, Claudette went to give her granddaughter, and future grandson-in-law a warm welcome back.

“It is of no issue, you are family here, especially with how much Christopher, Allison and Isaac tell me about you. I feel like you’re some cousin I just haven’t seen in a long time. Know that, as Lisa most likely said, you will always be welcome with the counsel – both because of what you did for the community, but more importantly, because of who you are.”

Grinning, Stiles nodded, feeling the welcome in every word spoken by the older woman. He could also feel it in the way Chris, Ally and Isaac looked at him, with so much warmth in their eyes. It made him realise he had missed them as much as he had missed the Hales and was missing his dad right at this moment.

Gathering all of them close, he took a selfie, and send it to the group chat he had with the others of the pack, as well as to his dad.

Noah was quick to send back a picture, of a cup of coffee on his office – the time tag telling him it was 7 AM in Beacon Hills, his dad had an early shift then.

Feeling an arm wrapping around his shoulders, he looked at Chris, “how have you been holding up with missing your dad, Stiles?”

Stiles shrugged, “it comes and goes to be honest; I am really super glad to be away from Beacon Hills, but I do miss him something fierce, but this is the best thing I could do. Especially after what Scott did and said, not to mention what I found out about Deaton and what he most likely would have done to me if I had stayed.”

Chris nodded, Ally and Isaac following, “I can understand this isn’t easy, but I do think you did the best thing you could do with accepting the proposition the counsel made you. I absolutely love that you took time to come and visit all of us – but the things you are going to do – for the good of the community, is going to be superessential!”

Stiles grinned, “I sure hope so, I already met so many different people, and with Hava helping me, I can take a guess at what they are. I… I really look forward to whatever else is going to happen on this adventure I started on.”

Allison grinned, “I sure hope so. After Lydia, you’re the second one of us to be able to graduate early, that alone is something to be proud of!”

Grinning once more, Stiles nodding, following them all into the house.

Isaac picked up on that, “talking about graduating, have you decided on a college?”

Stiles tilted his hand in a so-so motion.

“I got a list of those colleges and universities in the known, who offer online classes which major in subjects of the Supernatural, and which would still equal a normal degree, so I am leaning towards that.”

Isaac and Allison nodded, “that sound like a good idea, too. Do you have any idea as to which subject you want to take?”

Stiles nodded, and opened his notebook, “I want to take ‘history of the community’, ‘mythology 101’ and ‘different etiquettes within the community’, mostly because I feel those would be convenient for me on the road. I want to take a few ‘normal’ classes too.

Like, ‘world history’, ‘social studies’ and ‘intro to nursing’, again mostly because these are subjects, I can use on the road, and in my job. I still need 2 more subject to have a full program, but I don’t know what to take for those. I was hoping to look it over with you all, and with Lydia – to be able to send it through before the end of the summer.”

The others around nodded, leading him to one of the living rooms on the accommodations level, leading him to the room that would be his during his stay here, before taking his hand again as taking a seat in the living room that connected his temporarily bedroom, as well as Allison and Isaac’s bedroom.

The next Argent Matriarch help out her hand, “give me the list of possible courses, and we can go over them.”

Handing Ally, the list he had gotten from Lisa, she went over it – all the while Isaac turned towards him. A question is his eyes, the wringing hands telling him the curly haired werewolf was chewing over anything.

“You already went and visited the Hales, right?”

Stiles nodded, a soft smile on his face. He had never forgotten just how much Derek and Peter had done for him, but also for Isaac.

“How… How are they doing? How is Boyd and Erica?”

Smiling softly, Stiles told Isaac just how well it was going with the Hales, and with Erica and Boyd, how great they looked and how amazingly they fit in the pack they had found in Brazil. As Isaac stayed silent, Stiles told him about what he experienced himself with the Santos pack, and how welcoming they were towards him – as a technical outsider, no matter how much his reputation meant to others.

He also told him about the days he spends with Peter, and the others in their house. How great it was to see all of them again, and to realise he had missed all of them. Same could be said about Allison, Chris, and Isaac himself.

He assured the Wolf he never held it against them that they left Beacon Hills, if he had been any smarter, he would have done so too – a whole lot sooner. As he said this, Stiles shook his head, “actually, I probably wouldn’t leave Beacon Hills sooner, not when me staying so long, brought me Hava.”

This had Allison looking up too, “Hava?”

Nodding, Stiles let the vine bracelet on his wrist show, “I was chosen as the next Guardian for the Beacon Hills Nemeton, even if neither of us wanted to stay in Beacon Hills after what happened to my mother, the previous Guardian.”

Allison gaped, “but there hasn’t been an uprooted Nemeton since…”

Stiles nodded, “since the Middle Ages, I know… Or so I’ve been told.”

Isaac gaped at Stiles, “so what does this mean?”

_“It means, young Wolf, that My Little Spark will be a force to be reconned on in the future. He wants to help the community, for the sole reason of knowledge, instead of power – a very rare thing indeed. He already showed the community what he could do behind his screen at home, just researching – imagine what he will accomplish, and which bound he will force, while he goes on the road and helps those that call for him, those the Counsel sends him to, or as was the case today, those he finds because he knows how to listen and watch.”_

With everything Hava said, Stiles’ blush became more pronounced on his cheeks, he never looked at it like that, like what he could accomplish just be being himself – in his childhood being himself wasn’t all that good of a thing, he was always too hyper, too loud, and too odd.

_“I am so sorry, Little Spark, that you couldn’t grow up in a household where your mother could guide you as your spark manifested – which with a lot of Sparks begins in puberty and this can be perceived as an attention disorder.”_

Stiles blinked, “I though you said Sparks were born with all their magic, and as such had too much at the beginning of their life.”

Hava’s leaves nodded, _“They are, but Claudia did as many others had done, and bound part of that to you – to not overwhelm you. When this binding begins to break, as with so many others, it manifests, or can manifest, in hyperactivity, a lesser attention span, and bouts of normal teenager behaviour, only multiplied._

_Had your mother still been alive, or I able to do so – the bindings would have been lessened so you could access more of your Spark and learn how to control it. Because you didn’t have that your Spark kept on pushing against the barrier that was placed there, and this couldn’t have been easy for you._

_Had we been able to train you, and guide you, you wouldn’t have had those problems.”_

Stiles chocked back tears, “so that’s another thing Deaton took from me.”

Nothing was said after that, although Allison and Isaac hugged him from two sides as he broke down, processing the information Hava told him. About how much easier his childhood would have been.

Their dinner was quiet, with Allison telling her grandmother and father what Hava had told them.

Stiles ate in silence, still processing what it was that had been said. He just couldn’t believe that his life could have been so different, if Deaton hadn’t wanted to keep ‘his balance’ and let them all do and be what they wanted.

A part of him was happy that Hava was here with him and was curious as to what this would mean for the Darach, and his pet werewolf.

A hand on his shoulder made him look up at Claudette, the eldest Argent smiling at him, even if the look in her eyes showed him, she hurt for what he had been through.

“You must know, Mieczyslaw, that you only find those obstacles on your path that the fates believe you can overcome. They are not enjoyable, or easy, but they do make you into the person you were meant to be. You must see that by being who you are, you have united a community who had no way of doing so – as well as creating a pack that stands strong even with all of you so far away from one another. This speaks of what a wonderful person you are and lets us have a glimpse of the person you are going to become.”

Stiles nodded, “I know that, but it doesn’t make hearing this easier.”

Claudette shook her head, while Hava hugged his wrist tighter, “it does not. But it will make you stronger.”


	17. Chapter 17

The time he spends in France flew by, he stayed 4 days, about the same length as he did with the Hales, meaning that July was approaching, and he still didn’t have any idea which other courses he would take at the online college.

Even if Allison, Isaac, Chris, and Claudette had great suggestions, he didn’t know yet. But he did know that he could ask Lydia for some help in the next week when he was in London.

He had also taken the time to visit with Freya and her family again, taking Allison and Isaac with him, to introduce to the to the flock of harpies, and to make sure Freya knew she had other Supernaturals close her age that could help while he was off travelling the world.

He reassured her he would always be available, but couldn’t promise to come back when she asked, so that’s where she could go to Ally and Isaac for. In all, it seemed like great deal, while her parents were glad, they now had knowledge of the counsel nearby, as well as other teens that were in the community, so their chicks could interact with those.

The goodbye with the flock was a bit teary, as none of them had forgotten the young spark that had saved them and gave them a connection to the community again. As they were catching up, and got to know Red, and what he had done for the community, that gratitude only soared higher.

As for the Argent family, they were having dinner together that night, in some kind of celebration, before he flew to London tomorrow morning. Ally and Isaac, sadly, had school, so couldn’t come to wave him off.

But Claudette and Chris would be there to say their goodbyes and wish him well on his trip to the UK, they of course pressed upon him that he would be welcome whenever he wanted. It warmed Stiles to know there were people out there that did like him, wanted to get to know him, and saw him in a way he doubted his former best friend ever could.

As such, the dinner on his last full day in France was filled with laughter, all of them exchanging stories, and just enjoying the company they held right now. Allison and Isaac were sad they couldn’t be there to say goodbye – even if both of them had already promised to hug him tight before they went to bed.

Claudette on the other hand just watched over her son and the youngsters, beyond happy that they were here, even if Mieczyslaw would leave soon, she was beyond happy to have met him. He was truly a gem for their community, and with the way he had bonded with his Nemeton, and the way he took up information, he would indeed be a force to be reckoned on.

“Maman, are you alright?”

Smiling at her son, she smiled, “I am, mon fils, I am just reminiscing about these past few days.”

Chris smiled, “I know, Stiles brings a certain kind of life to wherever he goes.”

Claudette nods, “he does, it must be because he is a Spark and a Guardian, it is quite the combination, that would make me fear him, had I not known that he had absolutely no intention of doing anyone undeserving any harm. It does make glad he decided to join the counsel, instead of acting like a rogue.”

Chris hummed, “he certainly is something, alright, I can’t wait to see what he will come to mean in the community, and what amazing feeds he will get done, for all that I’ve known him, Stiles has been able to get things done that were thought to be impossible – just because he wished them too, but that’s part of his Spark heritage then, I think.”

Claudette nodded, “and with Hava with him, and who knows what else he will learn, he’s going to be one hell of a powerhouse.”

Chris just smiled, he has always known Stiles was special, especially after the then presumable human had been able to withstand whatever his father did to him – not that he was proud of that fact. Just as much as he knew Allison apologised to Erica and Boyd for her role in all that. It had made him see just what kind of man Stiles Stilinski would become.

As he looked at his daughter, and Isaac, he was glad he got out of Beacon Hills when he could – after all with the way it was going, and probably still going there, they would all have been killed in no time flat. The flat that Stiles also saw this and made to get out, made him believe that something would be done soon, so the McCall Pack wouldn’t bring the whole community in danger.

“Hey Stiles, did Deucalion say something about going back to Beacon Hills?”

The teen looked up, but nodded, “yeah, now that Kali and Ennis are back from, they honeymoon they hinted at going to take a look soon. Not that it would hurt, I can’t believe that BC changed so much in recent years all because of what Scott and Deaton are doing to it – with me and Hava gone, I wouldn’t be surprised it goes South soon.”

Chris hummed; he couldn’t help but agree to that. The looks in Isaac’s and Ally’s eyes told him much the same.

Claudette frowned, “I have heard rumours, and of course the things you have told us, Mieczyslaw, I can’t believe there is a Druid-Darach, and a spark-stealer running around in California.”

Stiles shook his head, “Scott is too gullible, he listens to everything Deaton tells him, because the man was there for him when his own father left him and his mother. Yet, this will make him fall all the harder, Deaton will throw him under the bus sooner then he will actually help him. I hate the fact that Scott isn’t the same boy I grew up with, but he got this upon himself – so now he has to deal with the consequences.”

All the others around the table nodded, they agreed with that statement, Scott was blind for so many things, and having Deaton there whispering in his ears about all the things he did ‘right’ didn’t help with that.

Stiles shrugged, “they all get what’s coming to them, especially when the Alpha Pack, the counsel, or both decent on them to give them the fifth degree.”

Allison snorted, “I don’t think that will reach Scoot to be honest, Stiles, after everything that he has been told, Scott has no idea what this world he was thrown into entails, all he had was you up to a point, and the riddles Deaton throws at him – he’ll still be lost.”

Stiles hummed, “I wonder if there is a way to take the Wolf away, as he obviously never wanted it to begin with. If we manage to take it away, if we have to, and make him forget everything he ever knew about all of us, we might just be better off in the long run.”

_“There is such a way, but it is a complicated process, one I am sure you’ll be able to do, My Little Spark. I’ll explain it to you in detail soon, some parts of it might come in handy on your travels.”_

Stiles grinned, “Thanks Hava, I look forward to hearing it.”

After their meal, they all gathered in the living room and enjoyed the rest of the evening. It was a sad end of the day, with Allison and Isaac hugging Stiles close to them, making him promise to keep them posted and to show his face when he is close by again.

They also promised to keep an eye on Freya and to visit her and her flock whenever they had the time, finding the time spend with the harpies to be very educational and fun, especially because the children, or chicks, hadn’t had a lot of interaction with others, except their kidnappers.

Stiles smiled sadly but promised he would come by from time to time, whenever he had the time and was close by – he had after all noticed he missed all of the pack, so to be able to see them on a semi-regular basis was something he wanted to do; now that he wasn’t bound by Beacon Hills.

Packing that evening, he was glad he made the trip to France, but he would also miss it, just as he missed Brazil – it all held a piece of home, which he now would miss all that much more. Luckily, he would be going to the country that held the last part of Pack.

At the airport the next morning, Stiles brought a large cup of coffee, doing the same for Chris, with a tea for Claudette as a thank you for bringing him to the airport at 6 am in the morning.

All three of them were sitting in the hall, waiting until Stiles could check in and go to the boarding area. Taking this time to say goodbye once more – it was after all a great 5 days he had spend with all of the Argent family, so he would miss them. Even Claudette, who he only officially met this time had grown on him like some aunt he had never met before.

Seeing the desk opening, Stiles stood and threw away his disposable cup, waiting until Chris and Claudette did the same, before hugging both of them extra tight. Waving at them for a few more moments, looking at the man behind the check in desk, who grinned at him.

The otherworldly gleam in his eyes made him arche an eyebrow, before Hava whispered ‘demon’ to him. Making him widen his eyes, the other grinning even wider. He flashed his badge, to which the man’s smiled grew milder.

“Have a great trip, Red.”

Stiles chuckled but nodded at the man, “thanks, I’m sure it will be great.”

Once in the plane, he made sure to check his phone for a message from Beth Hughes, the wife of the current alpha, and their emissary who happens to be a sorceress, he had to be honest and say he looked forward to talking with her.

From the messages they had exchanged, he knew she wasn’t that much older than him, maybe 10 years or something, as the Hughes pack was a rather new pack, which had done their research and had managed to gather pack members a lot faster, making them the biggest and leading pack of the London area.

Derek and Chris had set Jackson, and later Danny and Lydia up with them, as they had a reputation of being fair, just, and always up for new members, no matter their nature. They had also been one of the few full packs that interacted on his forum, with most of them being young and knowing their way around a computer.

He couldn’t wait to see the looks on all of their faces, when he arrived at the apartment complex they owned, and where his pack members were living too.

Settling in, he took out a book he had gotten from Claudette, one which told the history of Sparks, one he was more than happy to have and read – more so with the knowledge it granted him, coming from a line which carried sparks throughout history.

Reading a chapter or two, he accepted a bottle of water from the stewardess, before closing his eyes and taking a power nap before they landed in London, Heathrow. Beth had told him she would be waiting for him in the arrival hall and would be holding a plate with his name on it so he could recognize her in the sea of people most likely waiting there.

When he arrived, he had to snort at the woman holding a plate with his name on it, she looked 25, with multi coloured streaks through her hair, as well what could be described as alternative clothes. He decided then and there he liked Beth already.


	18. Chapter 18

As he approached her, Beth smiled at him, most likely having seen pictures of him on Lydia’s Facebook, he had changed somewhat since his last picture with the redhead, but he assumed he still looked alike enough for her to recognize him.

Unless of course, Lydia showed her the pictures he had taken with the Hale pack, or the Argent Clan, which were much more recent and up to date.

“Red, Or Stiles, what do you prefer?”

Stiles grinned, “either is fine, or if you want to try to pronounce my birth name you’re welcome to give that a try too. But other then that, I listen to all of them.”

She seemed to be making note of that on her phone, resulting in Stiles tilting up an eyebrow at her as she looked at him again.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that we’re so new, yet you helped us. Not only that, but you left members of your own pack in our care, we remembered that, and we want to make sure to thank you for that, and to remember what it is that you prefer.”

Taking a deep breath, she continued, “Wes got turned as a teenager and became an alpha not that much later, when he was forced to kill an alpha to protect me. We were a nobody, but for some reason you didn’t let that hinder you in trying to help us.

In fact, when Jackson appeared on our doorstep, followed not much later by Lydia, Danny and the twins, we thought this might be a set-up, but they were actually here because you vouched for us, and for the way we were open to all – even Jackson who kept displaying some kamina traits, and Lydia who is of banshee descent, they came to us because you told them we’d take care of them.

And we are, but we were still a new pack, who have grown so much in recent years, all because we’re vouched for by the counsel and by Red, and that means a whole lot in the community.”

Beth looked at him, a grateful smile on her face, “you have no idea what you did for us, before it was just Wes, Dani – that’s my younger sibling, and me, we didn’t have anything else and needed to figure out what was going on in between taking classes at college, it had been hell for so long, and suddenly the forum is there and we’re getting help from others that are like us.”

She wiped at her eyes, “you really have no idea how much you helped us and made sure Wes didn’t lose himself. He didn’t want to turn anyone else, but he had no choice but to turn Dani when a drunk driver hit them after a night out. Wes was there in an instant and I begged him to turn them, to not make me lose more family – and he did it for me, even if it wasn’t something he wanted to do.

Dani is the only beta he bit himself, others came from far and wide after we got recognized by the counsel and agreed to become a safe-haven for creatures outside of werewolves.”

Seeing what she was trying to convey, Stiles hugged her close, feeling her body stiffen for a while before she relaxed and hugged him back.

“Just, thank you.”

Stiles just shook his head, “you have nothing to thank me for, if anything I should be thanking you for taking in Jax, Danny and Lydia, closely followed by the twins and making sure they had a place in your pack after finally getting away from the shithole that is Beacon Hills. They deserved it, especially with Lydia managing to get into Oxford.”

Beth wiped at her eyes once more, “Lydia told me you’d say something like that, god, I didn’t want to believe her when she told me that you don’t see all the good you do for the community.”

Stiles just grinned sheepishly, “I’m starting to.”

_ “You really are not, Little Spark.” _

Beth blinked, “what was that?”

Stiles grinned again, showing off his Hava bracelet, making Beth gasp, “you’re a guardian too?”

Stiles nodded, “Hava and I bonded right before we left Beacon Hills, she’s been amazing, same with the counsel and the others of my pack, seeing them again was like coming home. That’s the reason I look forward to this visit so much. It’s been years since I last saw them in the flesh, not to mention I always wanted to visit the UK but was never able to.”

Beth grinned, “you’re in luck then, everyone is home right now, when I got the message you’d be stopping by, just about everyone took a week off to be there when I brought you home. All of them want to see you and greet you.

The only ones we didn’t tell were Jax, Lydia, Danny, and the twins, per your request. They all think someone else is visiting and they just don’t know who. I look forward to their reactions.”

Stiles laughed, “so do I, especially since it has been so long, I know ever since I announced I’d be traveling, Lydia has been texting me to ask when I would be coming here. She was majorly offended that I went to Brazil and France first, so she might be suspecting something, but still.”

Beth just giggled, nodding, after spending so much time with Lydia he would think the other woman knew what kind of person Lydia was, and how she’d react to everything Stiles was doing right now. 

Hooking her arm in Stiles’, Stiles hitched his pack higher up his shoulder, going by baggage claim to pick up his bigger bag and made his way out of the terminal, he and Beth talking as if they had known each other for years, which in a way was true – but only online, trading stories and anecdotes. 

Which evolved into tips on magic, spells they had done, with Hava chipping in her two cents every now and again as soon as they were in the car. 

As they drove over the freeway to the Hughes pack house, Stiles asked a question, “I noticed you refer to Dani as your sibling and they, are they non-binary?”

Beth nodded, “you caught on fast, most people need me, or Dani to explain it to them. But yeah, they are. Dani is genderfluid, but most of the time they feel neither, so the them/they pronouns are most often used. There are times they use male or female pronouns, but those are rare.”

Stiles just smiled, “that’s good to know, I just identify as a male, but I like to be able to use the correct pronouns, and don’t want to assume. What are yours, by the way?”

Beth grinned, “just she/her, I identify with the body I was born with, but there are some in our pack that are transgender, just so you know.”

Humming Stiles just said, “cool, are they weres, or another Supernatural?”

“One is a kitsune, Reiju, but then again they are also genderfluid, with the whole shapeshifting thing they have going on. Phil is a fae, who transitioned into a male, and Liz is a dryad, who transitioned into a female.”

Stiles hummed again, feeling Hava’s interest at the terms she most likely had never heard before.

Smiling Stiles made sure to explain it to her, telling her that in a way she too was transgender, she had been assigned a male identity and name when she was born, but felt better as a female now.

This had Hava contemplating, asking some more questions, before she became silent to ponder on the answers she had been given. All the while Beth had looked wide-eyed at what was happening.

Stiles just grinned sheepishly again, explaining that he had never thought to explain these things to Hava, not even after the Nemeton told him how she had become what she was now, just because to him it didn’t matter. Everyone has their own person, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. He didn’t believe those were important things, just some details to keep in account on how to approach a person, and maybe to keep in mind when sacred days, or difficult times were ahead, but those things didn’t make them to who they were, they helped shape a person, definitely, but they were not a person’s whole identity.

Beth just grinned, “you are so open minded about a lot of stuff, Stiles, it is very refreshing to meet someone with a very different view on the world, instead of the majority who are very narrow minded.”

Stiles shrugged, “I just want to learn, and to do that, one had to have an open mind, both in who a person is, as well as in the community we’re both in. I can’t see myself as someone narrow minded, and I know the moment I show signs of that, Hava will set me straight.”

_ “Even though you are not straight at all, I will point it out to you, yes.” _

Both Beth and Stiles laughed at the joke the Nemeton made, the smugness at her joke being well received coming off of Hava in waves, making both of them laugh even harder. As a matter of fact, they were still laughing as they pulled up to a mansion, no doubt the pack house of the Hughes pack.

Opening the door, Stiles noticed that the talking he could hear just a moment before had stopped inside the house, turning to Beth he grinned, “think they heard us.”

As he said that, a voice from inside the house yelled out to him, “Stiles! How come you didn’t tell me you were coming; I miss you!!”

The screaming was paired with a young redhead throwing her arms around him, smiling, Stiles wrapped his arms around Lydia and spun in a circle – so very happy to see her again. Setting her down, he noticed how great she looked. Gone was the haunted look she sported while in Beacon Hills, here she was glowing, her strawberry blond hair braided, and her green eyes sparkled once more in a way they hadn’t done since their freshman year in high school.

Looking past her, he could see Jackson, Danny, Ethan, and Aiden standing in the door opening, a huge grin on all of their faces and they caught Stiles in a hug as soon as he let go of Lydia. All of them also looked better than he had ever seen them. 

Their eyes had a shine to them again, genuine happiness making itself known through all of their pores, even more so at seeing him there most likely. He had missed them so much, so to be seeing that they had missed him as much warmed his heart.

As he hugged all of them, he saw them gravitating towards each other, a huge grin forming on his face.

“I knew it.”

Lydia and Aiden grinned right back as the alpha wrapped an arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders, what had been a way to get more information about either side in the times the alpha pack had been present in Beacon Hills, had evolved into actual affection and later, love, as Lydia left Beacon Hills for London.

In a way, the same thing could be said of Danny and Ethan, but to see Jackson standing in between them made something click in Stiles mind, something he felt stupid for never seeing before. But that didn’t matter, he was happy for all of them to have found love, and freedom away from Beacon Hills. And if Beth was an indication, they had found a great pack to spend their time with.

A throat was cleared behind them, making his friends take a step to the side to show what was most likely Wesley Hughes, a friendly grin on his face – his typical pale skin, freckles and auburn hair making him think about how a Weasley would look. But he dismissed that.

“Alpha Hughes, thank you for letting me into your home.”

The man waved a hand, “if anything, Mr. Stilinski, I should be thanking you as my lovely wife has done already, no doubt. You took a chance on a new pack, and we got all the benefits from that, so thank you, very much, for what you did for us.”

Stiles grinned, “no problem, thank you then, for taking care of my pack mates.”

Wesley nodded, mentioning inside, “let us get inside so you can meet the others too, I know they are all eagerly waiting to meet the mysterious Red.”


	19. Chapter 19

Stiles had to look around as he entered the mansion, everywhere he looked there were pictures of the pack, starting years ago when it had just been Wes, Beth and Dani, slowly progressing to the pack it was today - 50 people strong, with a variety of creatures.

The pictures that made him smile the most through, were those with his packmates in, mostly because all of them were smiling again, looking alive in a way they hadn’t been in Beacon Hills. Not that it had been that big of a reason why they weren’t happy.

As soon as Scott had become a ‘true alpha’ all he did was order them around, make decisions without consulting them and taking Deaton’s word about everything. He didn’t even think for himself, never had been capable of it - and now he had lost everything.

He had gotten texts from his dad, and Bobby that several members of his pack left for Satomi’s pack, or even the counsel, the moment Stiles left and wasn’t the scapegoat in Scott’s eyes anymore. They became as much, and wouldn’t put up with it as Stiles had done.

Several of them had even texted him, to apologize and say how awful Scott really was. Even if it was too little, too late, Stiles was glad he had gotten the apologies from them.

Looking around again, as Wes and Beth led him into the lounge room, where as he had been warned the whole of the Hughes pack was waiting for him, looking at him in awe the moment he walked through the door. 

He blushed, still not used to all the attention, even if he had gotten plenty already from people around him. He knew he should, as he had been getting a lot of attention ever since the forum got launched, but still.

_ “You deserve all this and more, Little Spark, you have done so much already, and enjoy doing so much more.” _

Hearing Hava whisper this to him, made him smile, even if it would take a while until he could deal with all the attention.

Looking at the members of his own pack, they were all smiling at him, Lydia even beaming, most likely happy to see him again after so many years. Even if he would get his desserts because he went to Brazil and France first, before coming here.

“My pack, I don’t think he needs an introduction, but I am going to give it anyway. Stiles, or Red, has agreed to join us for a couple of days. Mostly to see his packmates, and to get to know us, which is something we can only celebrate.”

The whole room started cheering, multiple people coming up to him to thank him for the forum, and for doing what he did, as it had saved their lives. 

Multiple of them had been lone creatures, looking for a family, or had been borderline omega, with no pack that wanted to take them in. The Hughes pack, however, did it with pleasure, making them grow the most out of all the packs in the surrounding areas. 

And while growing didn’t always go well, Wes managed to do so, very well, mostly because he kept accepting people that he got to know first, regardless of background, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation (because sadly, there were racist packs out there too) not because he wanted to be strong, or wanted to grow. But because Wes grew up on the streets himself, and now that he had the means to do so, he was more than happy to help others that needed a home.

Rubbing a hand through his hair, Stiles was glad when Lydia appeared and led him to one of the couches in the room, sitting next to him, and introducing everyone that came up to them by name, pronouns and type of Supernatural they were.

He was so happy she did that, as he had been getting a little bit overwhelmed by all the people talking around him, tanking him, or just gushing over everything he had done both for them as a person, as well as a Community.

Lydia also helped in keeping others at a distance when it all became a bit too much, escorting him outside, together with Aiden, so he could have a breath of fresh air.

“So, anything else noteworthy that happened, and was told about last?”

Stiles winced at that, but nodded, lifting his sleeve to let Lydia look at Hava.

The banshee blinked a few times, before she took a hold of his arm, “is this?”

Stiles nodded, “the Beacon Hills Nemeton, their name is Hava, she called to me after Scott finally pushed me past my limits. She... My mom was her last guardian, Deaton poisoned her with the backlash of the protective magic she had cast of Hava, all because she wouldn’t choose him as her guardian.”

Seeing that Jackson, Ethan and Danny were joining them outside, Stiles told them everything that had happened, first after they left Beacon Hills, and ending with what happened the last few days he had been in Beacon Hills. But mostly about what he was unearthing about Deaton, and all the things he had done. To so many people close to them, not only Claudia, but also to Peter and Derek, the Hales as a whole.

He ended with the fact that he knew that Scott’s pack was crumbling, now that they were all seeing just what kind of person he really was, with Stiles not there to catch the brunt of his anger. Adding to that, without the Nemeton in Beacon Hills, it had lost the barrier that had protected it for ages.

Hava might be sick, but she kept out the bigger troubles. Now that she left, his dad and the couch, Bobby, kept texting him that they were starting to get overrun - needing to inform multiple deputies about what was really going on, just to keep the Supernatural a secret.

Deaton and Scott in the meantime were pointing fingers at Stiles, but didn’t do anything about the problem Beacon Hills now faced. There had been missives sent to Scott from the counsel, but as Deaton told him lies, he never opened or replied.

“There are talks of sending in Deucalion, Kali and Ennis, as soon as they are able to defuse this situation and reinstate an alpha in the territory - most likely a temporarily one though, as everyone seems to be of the opinion that the Hale spark will be purified by the earth, and given back to its original line - making Cora, Derek or Peter an alpha, the Hale Alpha.”

This had them all looking at Stiles, eyes wide in wonder, “do you think that will happen?”

_ “I am sure of it, as this is what has happened for eons, young Banshee. The Hale spark has been pure, even when Peter Hale had it the first time - out of his mind as he was, it was only corrupted after the imposter was given it by the Darach.  _

_ Once that is solved and it is extracted, or gifted back to the Earth, it will get purified, although how long that will take depends, before appearing once more in the Hale line.” _

“Hava knows most about this, and everyone I consulted on this told me the same thing, the only thing we don’t know is how long it will take for the spark to go back to one of the Hales.”

Lydia frowned, “so this will still take a few years?”

Stiles nodded, “they need to get Scott to give it up willingly, which he most likely never will do as Deaton has blinded him for what is really happening, or they need to get it out, which means killing him. 

At the moment everyone is busy making sure the creatures who get released by Scott and Deaton don’t wreck more havoc around, as well as protect the Community, otherwise Deucalion would have visited Beacon Hills ages ago. But with all the shit that is happening there, they can’t.”

Jackson snorted, “I always wondered what Peter thought he would accomplish by going for Scott.”

Stiles blushed at that, “we switched sweaters at the last possible moment, meaning that Peter, deranged as he was, thought he was biting me. He later, when he was sane again, told me that he hated himself for biting Scott, as he should have never been involved with the Supernatural in the first place.”

This had most of them looking at each other, before looking at Stiles, “Peter did always say you would make a great wolf, though.”

Stiles nodded, “I know… It… I always told him and Derek, that I wanted to be bitten when I was dying or terminally ill. Had it written down and everything, but now that I know that I am a Spark, that won’t be possible, as the bite will take away my magic - killing me anyway.”

Lydia gasped at this, she knew she had the same fate, after the initial bite that awakened het dormant genes, if she were to be bitten again, she’d die, as the wolf would fight that which she was in blood. Most of the non-were creatures were like this.

The only exception were those that learned magic, instead of being born with it - like sorcerers and witches - they didn’t have magic to begin with, and were at baseline, still human. If they were bitten, they would lose their magic, as the were-spark was something else, but they would live.

Seeing that Stiles didn’t want to continue this topic of conversation, Lydia asked about his dad, and what Hava told him about his mother. Something that lit him right up, and made them all think about the high school Stiles, whose mouth couldn’t keep still for a second.

It also reminded them of better times, before the Supernatural, and part of them missed that, even if the community had given them great friends, great lovers, and more importantly a cause in an otherwise goalless life.

“What, you’re telling me that the Coach is a witch?”

Stiles nodded, retelling how he found out and the coach’s parting words.

Jackson and Danny nodded, “coach never did like Scott to begin with, I bet he was pissed when he noticed him changing and just kept on playing, endangering the community.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “he didn’t care, all he cared about at that time was Allison. And all the benefits it gave him, no more asthma, better friends - he once told me that too, but I was too lost to see what an asshole he was even then.”

Lydia’s eyes widened, “Stiles, did you at one point grieve Scott?”

Stiles scoffed, “why should I, he ain’t dead yet.”

Jackson whispered, “won’t be long though.”

Lydia shook her head, “I know that, but the friend you knew is. He started changing when he was bitten, which most likely was always part of his personality, but as he only had you, he kept it hidden. After he was bitten and started being accepted into the populair crowds, he saw you as unnecessary and essentially dumped you.

You just kept coming back, and he took advantage of that, more than likely aided by whatever Deaton has been putting into his mind.”

Stiles bit his lip, shaking his head, before tears started rolling down his cheeks the moment Lydia hugged him tight. Danny and Ethan not far behind, as they cocooned him in warmth. Jackson and Aiden stayed at a distance, even if they shuffled closer, neither of them were the hugging type.

Stiles cried for what had happened, to his mom, but also to him. He cried for the boy he had met in elementary, who had been there for him after his mom died, but who started changing too much to be recognized as that same kid after he was bitten.

He knew Lydia was right, but it still hurt so much, to know that he was disposable for the first friend he ever had.


	20. Chapter 20

* * *

At the end of the evening, after meeting just about everyone in the Hughes pack, Stiles followed Lydia and the others home to their set of rooms in the enormous mansion the pack lived in. Instead of it just being a lot of rooms, Wes, when he built the place, had it reformed into apartments, so that his pack had a place to stay, while still being in the packhouse.

It also helped all of them to still have their own little home, but have everyone close by, in the event that something did happen, or they needed one of the other members of the pack.

Lydia and Aiden showed him to the guest room, because of course where else should be stay while in London, lots of others in the pack had offered while he got to know them, but he was glad that Aiden and Lydia had aired out their guest room so he could stay there.

Lydia had already told him they would be going shopping the next day, part because she missed him, part because he went to her last, and part because finally, after so many years, he was willing to part from his jeans and flannels. 

She had been waiting for that to happen since they became great friends somewhere in junior year, so as he was finally here, she was going to take full advantage of it.

Aiden had tapped out, but Jackson, Danny and Ethan would be joining them. The other twan sadly had to work.

As he put his stuff away and got into his pyjamas, Hava moved around his wrist, making him look down.

_ “You missed them all, didn’t you, Little Spark?” _

Stiles nodded, “I did, which is the main reason I wanted to visit all of them before starting the real work. It’s been years since I saw all of them, and it just… It felt so good to see them again.”

Hava nodded,  _ “I can feel that, you’re very happy, ever since you met with the Hales in Brazil, you feel… lighter, and happier in general. Your spark also feels freer, but then again, I wouldn’t put it past the Darach to put a magic block on Beacon Hills, just to hold it over the other people living in that town.” _

Stiles nodded, “wouldn’t surprise me either, not after everything he has pulled.”

Hava hummed,  _ “remember that we got out, Little Spark, we can enjoy the world without worrying about him, or his pet Alpha.” _

Stiles snorted, “he isn’t really an Alpha, now is he, Scott I mean, all his pack members are leaving once they got to know what kind of person he was without me there to buffer that. Not only that, but I guess he’ll go Omega soon, especially since the wolf will become unstable without anyone there.”

Hava nodded,  _ “I noticed you still had your pack bounds to all the others, while he doesn’t.” _

Stiles scoffed, “that’s because he never had any in the first place, well, no, that’s not true, he had one with Peter for a while, because Peter bit him, but it got broken off at the same time they were starting to see what kind of person he was.

He had one with me for a while, but it must have faded out slowly, as it only dawned upon me just before we left, that it hadn’t been there for a long time. I think I kept on hoping everything would go back to the way it was, even if I knew it would never go back.

Not with Scott willing to blind himself to everything that didn’t fit in his black and white view of the world, which wasn’t helped with whatever DEaton whispered in his ears.”

A huff was heard from the door, making him look up to see Lydia standing there, “Scott never noticed all the things you did for him, Stiles, he didn’t in junior high, and he didn’t in high school - he took you for granted, and now that he lost you he will sick like a rock - and fast at that. 

Please don’t let him screw you over, just when you got away from Beacon Hills and his leachy tendencies. You are allowed to have a great life, and i know you will have one if only because I know what an amazing person you are.”

Stiles rubbed at the tears he could feel in the corner of his eyes, where was the time that he wanted nothing more than to date Lydia Martin, if only because Scott had made it clear he didn’t like gay guys - which was an opinion Stiles vallued back than.

But getting to know Lydia, Jackson and the rest of the pack made him realise that Scott’s opinion didn’t mean anything, especially not after his judgement was faulty as hell. 

In Lydia, Derek and Allison he found friends that supported him in a way he never had before, least of all from Scott. Looking back now, he should have gotten out of Beacon Hills the moment they all left, even more so as Scott blamed him for Allison leaving (instead of his own stalkerish behavior).

Leaning on Lydia as she took a seat next to him, he sighed, “I know that, but it doesn’t make this all any easier, I know what an awful friend Scott has been, but for the longest time, he was my only friend.”

Lydia sighed, stroking through his hair, “that was because every time someone tried to approach you, Scott stepped in and kept you to himself. We tried, you know, but it was Scott who none of us could stand, you however were showing to be as smart as me, before I even knew I was that smart.”

Stiles snorted wetly, “great, more things Scott kept from me, or what Deaton took from me, as I don’t doubt he had a hand in all of that. I wish I was met all of you guys sooner, and had a support system I could actually count on, instead of the things that Scott called friendship.”

Lydia hugged him close, “you have all of us now, the boys and me, and the Hales, and even the Argent Family - if I have to believe Allison, her grandmother adores you from the few days you spend there. Which is that spark you’ve always had, even without the magic involved, you connect with people so easily, that this what you’re doing, it’s going to be great for you. It’s going to transform you in ways no one had ever seen.”

Hava moved again,  _ “She is right, you know, Little Spark, you will accomplish so very much, just by being yourself.” _

Stiles nodded, wiping a last tear from his cheek, before rubbing over Hava, feeling her purr at that, now that she wasn’t a huge ass tree, she liked the attention she got from him, as well as the love she told him she could feel pouring from their link, and from his pores - she explained that he just oozes acceptance, love and curiosity.

Stiles grinned as Lydia pressed a kiss to his cheek, “go to sleep, we’ll have a fun day together tomorrow, just know that I am so very happy to have you here. We are all so very happy to have you here.”

Stilles grinned nodding, getting up and crawling under the blankets, he looked forward to tomorrow, hoping to find some new clothes now that he indeed left the flannels and jeans behind, and that he could talk with Lydia about his options for school - as he needed to send through his choices for his courses by the end of the month.

\---

The next morning started with Stiles waking up with other people moving around, which in a way, brought peace to his mind. He had the same with the Argents and in Brazil, as it reminded him of the days back in Beacon Hills, with him waking up to his dad either leaving or coming home at all hours.

He got up with a smile on his face, feeling refreshed after getting to vent the day before, Lydia was always the best at seeing when he needed to vent like that, and who was willing to listen to whatever it was that bothered him.

Getting dressed, he could feel Hava waking up, her subconscious touching his as she woke up from whatever kind of sleep she had. He knew it wasn’t like a human’s, but it seemed to do her good, as such he would never rouse her from it, unless it was something he couldn’t help - or when they were in danger.

Stepping into Lydia and Aiden’s dining room, he found the other three sitting there too, all of them turning puppy eyes to him.

It made his smile, before pulling the fridge open and starting on pancakes, back when they were all in Beacon Hills; the pack would come to his house after a rough couple of days enjoying a breakfast he made which consisted of pancakes, hash browns and bacon (that last was kept a secret from his dad though).

So to see them all here brought back memories, even if not all of the pack was here, he looked forward to a time they might just get a chance to do so. But for now, he was more than happy to see them again. Now that he was on the road a lot, he promised himself to check in now and again.

Finishing with breakfast, he put it on the table and saw most of them attacking it like a pack of rabbit wolves (pun totally intended). He and Lydia took a much smaller portion, enjoying a cup of coffee while they were at it. 

\---

After they finished eating, and all of them saying their goodbyes to Aiden who left for work, they all got dressed (he and Lydia were dressed, of course. But Jackson, Danny and Ethan still needed to get dressed). Much to their amusement, it brought back memories of the good times in Beacon Hills.

As soon as all of them were ready, they made their way to the front door, waving to anyone they passed. 

Beth, Wes and Dani saw them out, wishing them a great day and inviting them to dinner at the ‘great hall’, which was totally a Harry Potter reference, however Lydia explained that it was the ball room left over from the original layout of the house, which was used as a communal dining room for the whole pack.

Getting into Ethan SUV, the 5 of them made their way to the centre of London, a 10 minute drive. Luck had it that Jackson and Ethan worked in a building there, and had the option of putting their car on the parking lot even when they weren’t at work - taking away the fact that they would need to pay for however long they went shopping.

Linking her arm with Stiles, Lydia led them towards the boutiques she frequented most, telling people she knew there what she was looking for, especially for Stiles. The other 3 men went browsing or went into the next store to entertain themselves before coming back -speaking of their experience, as they entered the store Lydia and Stiles were in at the same moment they had paid or were just paying, moving as a group to the next cluster of stores.

When they stopped for lunch, Stiles couldn’t help but look around, enjoying the life he could see around him - as was expected from a city like London.

However, as he looked around, his eye fell on a little boy - maybe 6 years old, who seemed to be all alone and looking lost. Getting up and approaching, he could see the look of fear in the little boy’s eyes.

“Hey there, Kiddo, are you lost?”

The boy nodded, tears making their way over his cheeks, “Mommy’s lost.”

Just as he went to pick up the boy, a man approached, a fake smile on his face, “ah, you found my son, thank you, sir!”

However, the little boy hid behind Stiles legs, making him suspicious of the way the man spoke, the greed in his eyes also not sitting well with him. 

“I think you’re mistaking, sir, this is my friend Lydia’s little brother.”

As if called, Lydia appeared next to him, picking up the little boy which he allowed, making the man in front of them grind his teeth - caught in his lie. He turned, sneering at them, but walking all the faster as Jackson and Ethan approached.

Lydia meanwhile gasped, “Stiles, he’s… he’s like me.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As if I was going to let you all wait a week to find out what happens now xD  
> Enjoy a double update!

Stiles blinked a few times, before continuing “like…?”

Lydia nodded, “he feels just the same as that time I met Ashley, who you introduced me to, I think he is a banshee, or at least of banshee descent.”

Stiles looked at the kid in Lydia’s arms, noticing the way he did also have hair of a similar colour as Lydia and Ashley, might just be something to do with banshees and their Irish heritage. Pressing a hand to the kid’s back, he asked; “hey there, kiddo, do you have a name?”

The little boy nodded his head, copper curls bouncing up and down, “Seamus.”

Stiles grinned, glad to at least find out the kid’s name “hey there Seamus, my name is Stiles, and the pretty lady holding you is Lydia. Our friends Jasckson, Danny and Ethan are also here. What I wanted to know is, who was that man that wanted to take you away?”

The little boy’s lip began to tremble, big fat tears making their way down his cheeks, telling Stiles and the others that they had done the right thing in getting him away from that man, “he made mommy go away, I want mommy.”

With that the little boy started to cry, the sobs soon turning into wailing, which had the werewolves among them wincing at the high pitching of it. It would seem this kid was already manifesting as a banshee, without needing the kickstart of the bite like Lydia.

Stiles sighed, “so you have any idea where your mommy is right now, Seamus?”

The little boy nodded, “she works at a bar for special people, here in the city.”

With that, Stiles hummed once more and got his phone out, logging in on the counsel app to look for a safe spot in London, finding one within seconds, which as he suspected, was also a diner like the one he went to in LA. Giving a grin to his friends he lead the way towards the diner, seeing Seamus’ eyes light up as he saw it coming closer.

“That’s it mister, that’s where mommy works.”

Stiles nodded, going first, to open the door, seeing several patrons looking up as they entered. The only waitress dropping everything she had been holding before running towards them, “Seamus!”

The little boy almost threw himself out of Lydia’s arms into his mothers, the woman - who had the same dark copper hair as Seamus, was hugging his close to her chest, pressing kisses to his curls as she started crying in relief.

As she calmed down somewhat, she looked at the people that had brought her son to her again.

“Thank you so much, I didn’t know what I would have done if he kept Seamus with him for much longer. Did you see…”

Trailing off, she looked at Seamus again, “where is your brother, honey?”

Seamus looked down, tears once again making their way down his cheek, “still there.”

The woman had tears running over her cheeks again, one of the patrons, an older man, helped her sit down and went behind the bar to get her something to drink. Making them all think he must be the owner.

_ “He’s also a troll, he might not look like it, but he used clay to take on a human shape. Most likely to be able to move around here in London.” _

Stiles hummed at that, before turning his attention back to the woman, the waitress, who was still clutching Seamus to her chest.

“Ma’am, what exactly happened that you don’t have your sons with you.”

The woman shook her head a few times, before the owner came back and set a glass of water in front of her.

“Kayleigh, maybe they can help you.”

The woman started shaking her head, “they can’t help me, Boris, not after everything we tried. They had to be from the counsel, or the mysterious Red or something, before they could help me.”

Stiles smiled sheepishly and cleared his throat, “then we can help you ma’am, I’m both a counsel representative, and am known as Red in the community.”

This had both Kayleigh and Boris staring at them, the other patrons doing the same, mouth slack as they stared at the group of young adults in front of them.

“You’re really him?”

Lydia was the one who answered, “he really is, and I’ve known him for years, and he’s always been willing to help others. We’d all be delighted to help, if you tell us what’s wrong.”

Kayleigh turned to look at Lydia, “you’re also a banshee.”

Lydia nodded, “not a full blood though, but yes, I am.”

Kayleigh nodded, “but you’re not alone?”

Lydia shook her head, “I’ve been in a wolf pack for as long as I’ve been a banshee. First in Beacon Hills and after that became too much, so joined the Hughes pack here in London. I would never be able to be alone, and I never will be.”

Boris nodded, “I’ve heard lots of great things about the Hughes pack, and I had the joy of receiving Wes, Dani and Beth since they were just starting out.”

Turning to Kayleigh, he added, “I told you before to go and ask to join their pack. You are not a solitary creature either, you need people around you. Which has been the main reason why you keep working here.”

Kayleigh just nodded sadly, looking at Lydia and Stiles, before trailing her eyes over Jackson, Ethan and Danny.

“There would have been a man there, coming to ask for Seamus back.”

Stiles nodded, “there was, but he turned and ran the moment the wolves showed their face.”

Kayleigh nodded, “that’s Vic, he’s my ex-boyfriend, who I met when I was pregnant with Seamus, his older brother Sean was 3 at the time, and just showing signs of his heritage. I never noticed until it was too late, and Seamus was born. But Vic, he belongs to a gang I guess you could call it, who finds Supernatural children and takes them from their parents, training them to be mindless fighting machines who are put against one another. Kind of like dogfighting.”

Lydia gasped, while Stiles and the other men sneered, to know that such a practice was still being done to this day.

“He managed to bribe a social worker that I wasn’t being a good mother, especially once started working here again, and this isn’t a known bar - as it only caters to Supernaturals. But I couldn’t tell her that, which Vic knew well enough. He’s a low warlock, doesn’t have enough magic to do anything against other Supernaturals, but he can influence normal humans just fine.

He and his ilk use it to get the children away from their parents, after dating the parent in question, or posing as some long lost family member. I had heard rumours, we all had, but I never thought.”

She started crying again, and who wouldn’t. After such a thing happening in this city, and especially to her own children.

“Where is Sean now?”

Kayleigh sobbed, “still in the warehouse where they keep other children. Vic send me a picture of it once, but told me that if I ever told anyone he would kill both Seamus and Sean, I couldn’t…”

She cried into her hands, Boris patting her on the shoulder as he sneered at the air, no doubt thinking about all the things he wished he could do to this Vic.

Blinking, Stiles asked, “do you still have that picture?”

Kayleigh nodded, taking out her phone to give it to Boris, the man tapping a few keys before handing the phone over to Stiles, who could indeed see a boy a few years older than Seamus, with the same dark copper curls, but a lot skinnier and with a haunted look in his eyes. He could only imagine what they kid had gone through.

Handing the phone to Danny, the darker skinner man started typing, taking out his own phone to get an IP address and trace the most likely location as to where this picture had been taken to see if they could trace this Vic guy back to that warehouse.

Stiles meanwhile turned to Lydia, “call up the pack, as soon as we’re getting a hit, we’re raiding this place. I don’t want to think about all the other kids still in that hellhole.”

Lydia nodded and fishes out her phone, pressing the speed dial for Wes and starting to rapidly explain just what was going on and what they would need from the pack.

Turning to Ethan, he asked, “do you know anyone else close by that might be willing to help?”

The man also nodded and fished out his phone, dialing one number after the other, to find people willing to go with them to put this practice out of business, preferable yesterday.

Turning back to Boris and Kayleigh, he saw both of them looking shocked at what was going on, behind them, he saw several other people also on their phones, while the obvious pair of fae in the corner were sharpening knives they had pulled out from who knows where. Seems like they too would be going with them.

“Do any of you know anyone else that might want to come with?”

Kayleigh looked down for a moment, before she nodded, “I found some other people that had the same thing happening to them, maybe we can all get our children back this way.”

Stiles nodded, “get in contact with them, I anticipate Danny needing a few more minutes, but after that we need to move.”

Taking out his own phone, he opened his forum and posted a notice,  **Everyone in and around London ready to take down a Supernatural fighting ring, text me.**

Closing the forum, he opened the counsel app and pressed the contact icon for the London branch.

“Counsel HQ London, how can I help you?”

“Did you know there was an underground Supernatural fighting ring going on that has been using children of all things.”

The other side of the line was silent, before hissing could be heard, “what!?”

Stiles hummed, “I found one of the victims on accident, whose mother works in the safe haven up on 21st street. She told me her oldest son is still being held there, I am requesting any back-up you have to aid me and the Hughes pack in taking these people down.”

The woman on the other side of the line hissed again, “whatever you need, I’ve been hearing rumours for months, but we never got a lead. So you are god sent to report this. May I have your name for the records.”

Stiles grinned, “Stiles Stilinski, but you might know me as Red.”

The woman on the other side stayed silent for a moment, “my name is Cynthia, I am guessing neither Lisa nor Claudette were joking when they told me you attract trouble, like honey attracts bees then.”

Stiles chuckled, “I never look for trouble, but trouble always finds me. Can I count on back-up?”

Cynthia nodded, “I have several people waiting to get their hands on those that take kids away from their families, only to pit them against one another. We’ve been forced to tell parents too many times that we found their child in a ditch somewhere, I would sleep a lot easier knowing that would never happen.”

Stiles hummed, “heads up then, the people you’re looking for are a group of low level warlocks, not dangerous to any of us, but capable of influencing the right people and getting custody of the children they kill in those fights.”

Cynthia was hissing again, “those bastard.”

Danny suddenly called, “found it. This picture was taken on 321 South West Avenue, in the Southern part of London.”

Relaying the information to Cynthia, Stiles hung up and texted the address to the multitude of people who had texted him to help take out the trash. This gang wasn’t going to know what hit it.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a [ discord channel ](https://discord.gg/ZQgS86qj4J)
> 
> Or send me an email: lerya.fanfic@gmail.com
> 
> Or find me on [ tumblr ](www.lerya-fanfic.tumblr.com)


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